The Moral Ark

 

There's a moral arc in the Universe

There's a common center of decency

Injustice only illustrates right

There's always a candle in the night

 

In that eternal moment between moments,

When ultimate truth is revealed

Retribution walks the earth

Brought about by human folly

 

We have our choices to touch that arc

But we cannot change the way it bends.

Our choice is to stand on the side of justice

Or burn ourselves as justice flashes our way.

because "you shall reap what you sow!"

 

So efforts at injustice flash and burn

Men tell lies, and turn lies into myths

But justice comes and burns them away.

No lie can live forever,

Because lies were never alive.

And like a phoenix from the ashes truth is born anew.

And like gold separated from dross, the truth shines and does not corrode.

 

And our arc of justice is an ark for the righteous.

Carrying the righteous through waves of destruction.

Remember after the flood of destruction, a rainbow always shines.

We dig our own holes and then we fall into them.

But when the earthquake is over we either come again to stand tall.

Or we sleep peacefully waiting for the end of time.

Inspiration:

Dr. Martin Luther King & reference to him in an event yesterday.

http://www.open.salon.com/blog/arthur_howe/2009/01/18/the_arc_of_the_universe_is_long_but_it_bends_towards_justice

"I know you are asking today, "How long will it take?"....

"I come to say to you this afternoon, however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long,"

because truth crushed to earth will rise again."

"How long? Not long, because no lie can live forever."

"How long? Not long, because you shall reap what you sow...."

"How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

The Salon Article author notes:

"Dr. King's words echo those of the 19th-century Unitarian minister Theodore Parker. In his 1853 sermon on "Justice and the Conscience," Parker declared:

The Salon Article then quotes, Theodore parker:

Wikipedia

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Theodore_Parker

"I do not pretend to understand the moral universe;"

"the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways;"

"I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight;"

"I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice."

And concludes

"In borrowing from Parker, Dr. King drew inspiration from a source that reaches back to our nation's birth."

More from NPR:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129609461