Sometimes I don’t want
What I ought
I crave things
I should not
The demands of the body,
Soft substance
Marbled muscle and fat
Between skin and bones
Whispering its will,
Insisting to command.
The non-physical soul,
Beware: the mind is at work,
Seat of the trembling heart,
A self-seeking will
Turning upon itself,
Finds fulfillment is impossible.
Dig deeper still,
The human spirit
Communes and receives
From God
Justly seeking good
The government of life.
The war is on
Desire is here
The flesh is weak
The soul yearns
The spirit calls.
Desires of the flesh
Pivot against the Spirit,
Desires of the Spirit
Pull against the flesh,
These oppose each other
To keep you from doing
The things you ought.
Everybody’s War captures the universal struggle between desire and what a person knows to be right. This poem gives a voice to that conflict. It recognizes that the wishing to do good is present but often we end up doing the opposite.
Sometimes I don’t want / What I ought,
“For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”
(Romans 7:19).
muscle and fat between skin and bones
“May your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
“For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
(Galatians 5:17).
“The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41).
“Everybody’s War,” All poetry.com. Copyright (c), October, 2021, by Mark B. Jabusch