{"id":1724,"date":"2014-12-18T17:23:45","date_gmt":"2014-12-18T22:23:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?p=1724"},"modified":"2014-12-18T17:23:45","modified_gmt":"2014-12-18T22:23:45","slug":"poem-not-buying-heaven-or-hell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/12\/18\/poem-not-buying-heaven-or-hell\/","title":{"rendered":"POEM: Not Buying Heaven or Hell"},"content":{"rendered":"

Being not tempted
\nBuy heaven or hell
\nI yearn my keep
\nFrom the love unearth<\/strong><\/p>\n

I like epic themes, such as heaven and hell.\u00a0 Nonetheless, I find the carrot of heaven or the stick of hell to be a distraction from good living on earth.\u00a0 Love strikes me as what melds the good life on earth.\u00a0 Love is a good in itself, reflecting the grace of our Creator.\u00a0 Love is the way.\u00a0 Love puts hell in the refuse category, rejecting the cynical notion that redemption is a dead end street.\u00a0 Hell implies that God gives up on us, and that God’s will can only overcome us with some sort of eternal prison.\u00a0 More insidiously, hell accepts that human will is somehow supreme, even trumping God.\u00a0 Death itself seems a more than adequate fail-safe for limiting any human’s will! If there is a heaven, it would prove consistent with God’s pattern of surprising me with good things, taking me beyond my limited intellect, experience, or even imagination.\u00a0 My conception of how God operates is much more like a parent raising a young child, or in my more mature states, like a lover wooing me into even greater ways of being.\u00a0 My siblings in this big, strange human family may behave badly at times, but we are still family and need to have each others back, and at least not kill each other!\u00a0 Cain murdering Abel was all the more outrageous because they were brothers.\u00a0 It is no different today — we are all brothers and sisters.\u00a0 We should not forget such things.\u00a0 This is not simply a metaphor.\u00a0 Evolutionary biology indicates that all modern humans descended from a common ancestor on the continent of Africa.\u00a0 Humanity would be better served to remember our African mother and know that we are one race, the human race. Love of family is our greatest inheritance. Let this love bring us together, not tear us apart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Being not tempted Buy heaven or hell I yearn my keep From the love unearth I like epic themes, such as heaven and hell.\u00a0 Nonetheless, I find the carrot of heaven or the stick of hell to be a distraction … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,9,15],"tags":[269,385,440,428,589,65,263,506,76,283,305,673,532,359,273,548,454,658,94,649,510,53],"class_list":["post-1724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-peace","category-poems","category-political-and-philosophical-musings","tag-cynical","tag-death","tag-evolution","tag-experience","tag-family","tag-god","tag-grace","tag-heaven","tag-hell","tag-human-race","tag-humanity","tag-imagination","tag-intellect","tag-life","tag-love","tag-modern","tag-murder","tag-poems","tag-poetry","tag-prison","tag-redemption","tag-short-poems"],"yoast_head":"\nPOEM: Not Buying Heaven or Hell | Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"POEM: Not Buying Heaven or Hell, Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings, Cynical, Death, Evolution, Experience, Family, God, Grace, Heaven, Hell, Human Race, Humanity, Imagination, Intellect, Life, Love, Modern, Murder, Poems, Poetry, Prison, Redemption, Short Poems Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/12\/18\/poem-not-buying-heaven-or-hell\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/12\\\/18\\\/poem-not-buying-heaven-or-hell\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/12\\\/18\\\/poem-not-buying-heaven-or-hell\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"POEM: Not Buying Heaven or Hell\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-12-18T22:23:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/12\\\/18\\\/poem-not-buying-heaven-or-hell\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":330,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e\"},\"keywords\":[\"Cynical\",\"Death\",\"Evolution\",\"Experience\",\"Family\",\"God\",\"Grace\",\"Heaven\",\"Hell\",\"Human Race\",\"Humanity\",\"Imagination\",\"Intellect\",\"Life\",\"Love\",\"Modern\",\"Murder\",\"Poems\",\"Poetry\",\"Prison\",\"Redemption\",\"Short Poems\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Peace\",\"Poems\",\"Political and Philosophical Musings\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/12\\\/18\\\/poem-not-buying-heaven-or-hell\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/12\\\/18\\\/poem-not-buying-heaven-or-hell\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/12\\\/18\\\/poem-not-buying-heaven-or-hell\\\/\",\"name\":\"POEM: Not Buying Heaven or Hell | Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-12-18T22:23:45+00:00\",\"description\":\"POEM: Not Buying Heaven or Hell, Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings, Cynical, Death, Evolution, Experience, Family, God, Grace, Heaven, Hell, Human Race, Humanity, Imagination, Intellect, Life, Love, Modern, Murder, Poems, Poetry, Prison, Redemption, Short Poems Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/12\\\/18\\\/poem-not-buying-heaven-or-hell\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/12\\\/18\\\/poem-not-buying-heaven-or-hell\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/2014\\\/12\\\/18\\\/poem-not-buying-heaven-or-hell\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog HOME\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Peace\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/category\\\/peace\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"POEM: Not Buying Heaven or Hell\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Political Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show!\",\"description\":\"Top Pun's Pun-filled Stuff, Satire, and Public Health Science\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/toppun.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e\",\"name\":\"Top Pun\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Top Pun\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/TopPun.com\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"POEM: Not Buying Heaven or Hell | Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %","description":"POEM: Not Buying Heaven or Hell, Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings, Cynical, Death, Evolution, Experience, Family, God, Grace, Heaven, Hell, Human Race, Humanity, Imagination, Intellect, Life, Love, Modern, Murder, Poems, Poetry, Prison, Redemption, Short Poems Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/12\/18\/poem-not-buying-heaven-or-hell\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/12\/18\/poem-not-buying-heaven-or-hell\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/12\/18\/poem-not-buying-heaven-or-hell\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"POEM: Not Buying Heaven or Hell","datePublished":"2014-12-18T22:23:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/12\/18\/poem-not-buying-heaven-or-hell\/"},"wordCount":330,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e"},"keywords":["Cynical","Death","Evolution","Experience","Family","God","Grace","Heaven","Hell","Human Race","Humanity","Imagination","Intellect","Life","Love","Modern","Murder","Poems","Poetry","Prison","Redemption","Short Poems"],"articleSection":["Peace","Poems","Political and Philosophical Musings"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/12\/18\/poem-not-buying-heaven-or-hell\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/12\/18\/poem-not-buying-heaven-or-hell\/","url":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/12\/18\/poem-not-buying-heaven-or-hell\/","name":"POEM: Not Buying Heaven or Hell | Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-12-18T22:23:45+00:00","description":"POEM: Not Buying Heaven or Hell, Peace, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings, Cynical, Death, Evolution, Experience, Family, God, Grace, Heaven, Hell, Human Race, Humanity, Imagination, Intellect, Life, Love, Modern, Murder, Poems, Poetry, Prison, Redemption, Short Poems Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! %","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/12\/18\/poem-not-buying-heaven-or-hell\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/12\/18\/poem-not-buying-heaven-or-hell\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/12\/18\/poem-not-buying-heaven-or-hell\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog HOME","item":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Peace","item":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/category\/peace\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"POEM: Not Buying Heaven or Hell"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/","name":"Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Political Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show!","description":"Top Pun's Pun-filled Stuff, Satire, and Public Health Science","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/23524eae4bc27be85d1cdc01bc6d380e","name":"Top Pun","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Top Pun"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f78057fc29c98405f1474e223d51149b962df4af36cea20bf4ccbb189f621bb7?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/TopPun.com\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":""}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1724"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1724\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1725,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1724\/revisions\/1725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}