Daydreams Enough To Make The Devil Recoil Poem by Margaret Alice

I’m scared of Hermien, a Pastor’s wife,
she declared her mission: To help me to
live more from my left-hemisphere brain
so I can translate every day, without
day-dreaming or wishing for more –

She says my right-hemisphere is way
too strong; I should move over into the
cold brilliance of the left-hemisphere -
I’m sorry, Hermien; I cannot do that
a life without peak experience

Would drive me to suicide, and you as
a Pastor’s wife would not like to have
that on your conscience, though it does
seem that religious folks have a lot
more issues than other people –

I knew two professors of Bible Studies
who had affairs regularly – they probably
lived the Calvinist creed: No amount of
good deeds can save you, it’s useless
to try to be better than you are

You are either predestined for life
everlasting, or you are not; no single
deed from your side can change your fate
anyhow; so you might just as well be
as bad as you like, the bigger your sin

The greater the gift of forgiveness you
freely receive from the God of Predestination
the bigger your humility (it being the highest
virtue!) - In that case; I’m up for receiving
the biggest gift of them all –

Though I have mostly sinned in my thoughts,
my daydreams are terrible enough to make the
devil recoil – at least I’m in good company with
all the pastors – and their goodly wives…