Evil and El Diablo

Just saw the new Sir Anthony Hopkins Movie - The Rite.

While the basic issue the movie addresses is worthy of pondering on, I don't think many will get the underlying Dystopian twist to the protagonist's psyche. He does not believe in the Devil when the movie begins, not because he can't find proof of the existence of Lucifer and his demons, but because he chooses not to. Which leads us to the point where he asks the demon that possesses the troubled little girl - "How can I fear you, if you do not exist?"

Indeed, one of the main themes of Evil's attempts to corrupt the souls of men is Doubt. If Man doubts the existence of God, he is skeptical of the Devil as well. To him then, there is no fate, no luck, just chance, just probabilities. Doubt leads to acceptance as well, which is not something that you may normally postulate. The greatest weapon of Evil - the threat of an unbelieving soul being cast down to Hellfire for not believing in God. What does not follow here naturally is that if not believing in God leads you to Hell, shouldn't not believing in the Devil lead you to Heaven? Nonsense. :)

Anyway, the main thing that stuck in my mind, is the protagonist's fear of dying alone. The importance that the young to-be-priest attaches to the probable thoughts of his father dying alone (and the demon's playing on this fear) later leaves him. But what of us, who have over time accepted that we came into this world alone, and will leave alone - no matter how lovingly our close ones keep us while we're alive? What of us, who refuse to fear loneliness at the end, whether on the way to whatever divine destination that lies in store for us as a result of our actions, or while slowly fading away to nothingness that probably awaits agnostics and atheists (mercifully).

Are we fooling ourselves, arming ourselves with false courage, telling ourselves that we are strong, willing courage but getting instead made-up indifference, and then using it as a facade for the courage that few truly possess?

Or are we so dead in our souls that ours are finally truly beyond redemption, not because we do not believe not only in our God (s), but not even in our own selves' permanence? Are we untrue to the values that we were raised by, by being true to the values that we have raised in ourselves?

I do not know these answers, but the questions are nice to ask, after a long, long time. The movie is a must-watch on my list.

The Real Song of Love

There are bands, and there are groups,
Of people who scream 'Rock On' and 'Whoops'!
They gyrate to mad beats, to pure noise,
Drowned away are grace, beauty and poise

There are couples, and there are lovers,
Who think life lies on the bed, underneath the covers.
They work and earn, steal and rob, betray,
Just to live one more night, and waste it the same way

There are no sane people in the world anymore,
Just You and I, just You and I,
There are no keepers of faith and trust anymore,
Just You and I, just You and I

We'll go on like this forever, a day at a time,
Two beads of amber golden, in a pool of slime,
And when the days are done, and dusk approaches,
People will remember, two humming birds among the cockroaches.

And in the realms of moles and gnomes,
Legends will be told, of two butterflies,
And even among those unhappy creatures,
These undeniable truths shall standout against lies.

That there were two, and two only, just two,
Who could take aside, everything the world could do,
And cross distance, time, money and mood,
And be united at first by love of the same music and food.

And when they further met, and met yet again,
Though each had come to the other through much pain,
They gave but love, and comfort, warmth and joy,
She felt again at last as a little cub, who'd found her boy.

They faced a lot of resistance, from out and with-in,
But trust never broke, their belief never give in,
And obstacles were knocked aside, or bowled asunder,
Just as bullies hide under their beds from thunder.

For thunder it was, loud, clear and bold,
That those two exhuded as they grew old,
But forever young were they still, every day,
The shine on his head bright, the glow on hers grey.

Sitting outside their comfortable porch,
He sipping his beer, and she her scotch,
Looking at the sunset, at each colorful stroke,
While around them drifted lazy clouds of smoke.

This is the way they were seen last,
By any who can differentiate slow and fast,
But they say that if you go to Scotland,
And look over a certain hill and when dawn's rays bend.

You will see a road, a yellow brick one,
That you may walk only when your life is done,
And that too if the world remembers you as old,
But only you know that love kept your heart as new as gold.

And if you follow that road down hill,
You will come to a place built with grace and skill,
For those two golden, when they knew they would'nt die,
Built for them a castle, underground in the sky.

And they will live there, waiting, never lonely,
For you, but that too if only,
You too rose up against the slime,
And at last found someone, with whom to shine!

No Smoking

Pink Floyd would be proud, I hope, as would Slash  & Axl: 

Clean air, everywhere,
See the trees breathe in peace,
A clean world to smell in,
Sir, don't smoke here please...

Little baby squirrels, playing,
little birds flying about.
Can't you see those children run,
Sir, please put that out.

No smoking.
They said, no smoking,
They said, no smoking,
No more smoking here please.

Factories bellowing out coal-ash,
Rivers choking out villages,
AKs firing around the globe,
As man burns and pillages,

Thousands starve in Africa,
Hundreds die of bombs,
Millions moved by conflicts,
But they say with aplomb-

No smoking,
They said, no smoking,
They said, no smoking,
No more smoking here please.

Trees being chewed into paper,
Ores being burnt into rust,
Oil being burnt to exhaust,
But don't light up, its a must.

Green forest to a gray jungle,
Blue water to a gray sludge,
But they're against blue smoke,
The police, jury and the judge.

No smoking,
They said, no smoking,
They said, no smoking,
No more smoking here please.

Rapes, murders, heists, scams,
Failure to pay child support,
Think you need a drag,
Come, lets to the station report!

Prisons flowing with undertrials,
Orphans sleeping on the street,
But the government has something better to do,
Health quotas it has to meet!

No smoking.