Group 6

Every parent at some point has made a decision To buy and bring home a color television, Then make that TV set the living room's centerpiece And use the magic box to bring knowledge, rest and ease, And tell the children about the box's magic gifts Of how this box teaches, entertains and uplifts, And in the same sentence, the children will forbid To watch certain programs, or else their privilege rid. We take our children to shops that are filled with toys And let them roam in Paradise with toys that bring them joys, Yet forbid them from playing with guns and violent toys That were made to train ruthless and vicious girls and boys. Even our governments follow the same formation They pass laws they call "Freedom of information" Yet they all withhold certain secret information For the sake of well being and security of the nation. And we see in the garden of Eden, God gives Adam and Eve A Paradise to live in, if only they'd believe. In Eden they both find everything they'll ever need Yet from eating the fruits of life and knowledge God forbid. I guess we are not much different from our God, our creator What God forbade our parents, we forbid our children and more.

In the Old Testament we read, after the fall of man The descendents of Adam, in a world where havoc ran Lived long purposeless lives, while each of them begat More children who lived and begat, like a breeding rat. You can't really blame them, they had no television Their only entertainment, begetting, their sole vision. And then came the flood, where they all died and drowned Except for Noah' Ark, which the waters adorned and crowned. This Biblical story is of our modern times Of our purposeless lives and our vicious crimes. We live long purposeless lives, existing and begetting And then descends our flood, while our progeny forgetting. The only thing we leave behind, is children who beget Yet more purposeless descendents, who their fathers forget. Except for the lone Noah, whose life you can be sure Will have a worthy purpose, for which he'd work and more.

Abraham took Isaac to the mount To sacrifice on God's account; God told Abraham to free Isaac Gave him a lamb to put on the block. Abraham obeyed his God's command With Isaac returned to his homeland. We teach our children to go to war For national pride to kill and scar Instead of letting our children go We give them guns, the rest you know. We too obey our God's command Blood of our children shed for homeland. Abraham's God, loving, divine Patriotic ours, vengeful, malign.

In the land of Egypt, in a dream the Pharaoh had seen Seven cows that were well built, followed by seven lean. The only one who could interpret Pharaoh's dream Was the immigrant, Jacob, the wise one, it would seem, He then told the Pharaoh that his dream would mean Seven plentiful years, followed by seven lean In the years of abundance, keep the surplus and more For the seven lean years, they should put in a store. And so the land of Egypt prospered in abundance And in times of scarcity, kept its independence. We take this old story as life long instruction, For security we store in years of construction We work hard when young, and save for our pension As though this is not enough, insurance our invention. But Jacob's story is not about insurance There is no security, God our only assurance. Jacob teaches the world of self-restraint, control Else for greedy over-consumption, we will pay a toll. In times of abundance, when mother earth yields much fruit We over-eat, consume, we rampage, take our loot. We burn our rainforests, in ozone make a hole We pollute and over-fish, we're out of control, And hope in the future, our earth someone will insure Patch up the ozone hole, our livelihood secure. The lesson we can learn from Pharaoh's prophetic dream To exercise self-control, no matter how times may seem. In times of abundance, from over-indulgence refrain In times of scarcity, our livelihood retain; Do away with insurance and pension's supporting rod Exercise self-restraint, and put our trust in God.

With the Ten Commandments, descending from the mount, Was furious and blunt, says the Biblical account; He threw his tablets to crush the Golden Calf His reaction was just, though it seemed so rough. Israel's lack of faith, his major complaint In spite of miracles performed by that saint, Worship of other gods, greatest blasphemy, Greatest Commandment says, "Worship none but me." And now in modern times we scoff at Israel Committing such sin at the foot of the Holy Hill. Yet in our modern times, much like the times of old Though we've left out the Calf, we still worship the gold. Sacrifice all our lives to the rich god of weal Thinking our bank accounts, supreme pains shall heal, Believing riches and gold will bring much joy We will buy expensive toys, and many servants employ, We worship our idol with lustful sacrifice We plan, scheme, deceive, we commit many a vice. But this idol of gold with all its purity Is simply not enough, we worship security. God of security, we worship with much pride Else our jobs will lose, our boss puts us aside; Work hard and long, our future secure Even at jobs we hate, our happiness ensure. Yet job security is but one way we praise Idol of security shrouded in illusive haze. In our relationships we sacrifice love and joy In emotional commerce, our trading skills deploy, We settle for second best, our remedy, our cure Nobody's perfect, settlement we must secure To wait for the one we love, who on earth can insure That a life of loneliness we need not endure? Idol of security reigns with power and rage Though we gave up the form, its essence rules our age. But there are more idols in this, our modern age Many more fearful gods are set upon the stage: The god of normalcy urges us to follow Every common trait, even if it rings hollow; The god of constancy in times of drastic change Forbids us to change the old, improve or rearrange. In our modern pantheon these are but a few Gods who in their power keep our lives in view. Israel worshipped the Golden Calf, but it was only one We don't have a single image, many gods our lives run. This blasphemy we rid if we don't fear gods' power Instead in God's love, bravely ourselves shower; The idols that we fear, powerfully over us tower But the wise loving God, in our hearts will flower. The other Master in his Sermon on the Mount Continues the same Biblical account Said between God and Mammon you must choose Service of one or the other you must refuse. So in our times we have come to the point of decision Between God and our idols we must make a clear division; There is only one Master we can serve, We must now choose which one we deserve: To go with the many forms of our formless Golden Calf Or to go with the Loving Wise, and at our many idols laugh.