Enigma of Life

Found Poem

By Lienda Little

Questions as to the reality of the world

Met by a confusion, in vain to solve

We want to give meaning to the life in the world

We want to understand life in the universe

There is in each of us the will-to-live

Instinct, thought, the capacity for divination

Ethics is the very manifestation of our will-to-live

Life is a mystery in which I remain by thought

Truth is one of two kinds: scientific and spiritual

Give equal value to practical and theoretical reason

The striving for harmony with the spiritual

We do not abandon the ideals

Reverence for life is a universal ethic

Demands of one, what is actually beyond his strength

Rational processes must lead to the true ethic

Find sympathy to be natural for any type of life

Mystical Union with the universal spirit

Every profound thought is mystical

We do not in deed understand the spirit

The important thing is that we are part of life

Definition of Found Poetry:  Scattered phrases from the text of a book are chosen and placed together in order to construct poetry.  These particular phrases are from Chapter 8 of Reverence for Life.

Photograph provided by Ms. Sheila Silver as a gift to the Albert Schweitzer Institute.