One day, while strolling in a park,
A passerby made a pointed remark:
“Why do you wear that outlandish dress?
Is it to stand out from others and to impress,
To make them think of you as specially holy,
As if you are exalted and all others lowly?
To make them imagine you’re sent by God,
As if others were rabble, dust, mere sod?"
Saying this, the stranger walked ahead,
Having conveyed what had to be said.
These words set off a big storm in his mind,
In much confusion he himself now did find.
His mind began to scold him severely,
Saying that he was no ‘holy’ man really,
That he was a charlatan, and nothing more.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know this before,
But these words had some special effect,
Making him on his life to seriously reflect,
And thus he made now so bold to tell himself:
“To you, religion’s a means for power and pelf.
You have put on a special garb and look,
In the name of religion in order to rook
Feeble-minded people who easily believe
Men in ‘holy’ garb who’re out to deceive.
I very well know why you dress this way:
So that gullible folks you may easily sway,
To make them fall flat right at your feet,
And you with awe and trembling treat,
To make others to you themselves surrender,
And to you their hard-earned wealth render,
So that you can live in great comfort and ease,
And with your minions do just as you please.”
His Inner Voice kept berating him like this,
So very severely It he just couldn’t dismiss.
The Voice told him in words very clear,
Inducing in him a much-needed fear:
“If you don’t stop, you’re in for big trouble.
You’ll face a painful burst of your big bubble.
If you’d dress just like others I think it’d be nice,
It might go a long way to curtail that great vice,
Of exploitation in the name of God and religion,
Which for centuries has been a huge contagion.”
On that very day he thus came to realize
The wrongs of his in religion’s disguise,
And then his life took a very big turn,
Knowing now that he had much to unlearn.
Today, he looks like anyone on the street,
As you will see if him you ever meet,
Having realized the errors of his distant past,
To looking ordinary now committed steadfast,
Understanding it’s inner looks that really matter,
Not a special dress donned for others to flatter.
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