I’m told there’s a supreme entity,
but the tellers don’t all have the same
though insistent that theirs is the one.
How to decide?
Consulting Consumer Reports
shows me ratings of refrigerators and cars.
Maybe the answer lies
in the parable of the three rings,
as recited by Boccaccio and Lessing.
But in real life,
those three brothers still have their quarrels,
and what of the others ignored?
There are those fortunate few
who see messenger angels,
or a burning bush,
or hear a celestial voice.
But my senses don’t seem tuned
to the frequency for SETI reception;
is there too much noise to filter?
But what about the inherited path:
sacred words, rites, and holidays –
the familiar walling off glints of doubt?
Too many questions, too few answers.
Maybe I should look into buying a car.
– Peter Schmidt (Feb. 2021)
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