The Living Proof

by Jeffrey Essmann | January 27, 2021 1:00 am

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This week’s poem in the Catholic Poetry Room is by P.C. Scheponik.                                                                                                                     

The Living Proof

I have heard it asked at the dinner table, at the cafe,
at the barber shop, at Q & A sessions in literature or
theology class– Does God exist?
More often than not, the responses go something
like this–
passionate arguments of yes and no, followed by
the closing thought, we can never know for sure
and must assign God’s existence to a matter of belief
and nothing more.
To all those armchair philosophers as well as those with
degrees, I say if you want to know if God exists,
open your eyes and see the proof that lives and breathes
in this world–
the celestial waltz of sun and moon,
the countless stars that fill night’s room,
the sea and all the rivers flowing,
the rolling plains, the forests growing,
the mountains with their cathedral peaks,
piercing the clouds as if to speak,
“Here I am. Look at me, if you seek eternity,”
the breath of wind stirring clouds and trees,
raising the waves in bay and sea, like the dead
who live again.
If you’re looking, my friend, to answer the question
whether or not God exists–behold this world.
Let your soul be kissed by the truth
that anything as beautiful as this world
is living proof of God.

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P.C. Scheponik is a lifelong poet who lives by the sea with his wife Shirley and their Shichon, Bella. His writing celebrates nature, the human condition, and life’s metaphysical mysteries. He has published four collections of poems: Psalms to Padre Pio (National Centre for Padre Pio), A Storm by Any Other Name and Songs the Sea Has Sung in Me (PS Books, a division of Philadelphia Stories), and And the Sun Still Dared to Shine (Mazo Publishers). His work has also appeared in numerous literary journals, among them, Adelaide, Visitant, Red Eft Review, Boned, Time of Singing, WINK, Poetry Pacific, Streetlight Press and others. He was a finalist in 2017, 2018, and 2019 Adelaide Anthology Contest, and was a 2019 Pushcart Prize nominee.

Source URL: https://integratedcatholiclife.org/2021/01/poetry-the-living-proof/

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