Son put a poser up to me <br />That made me scratch my head: <br />"God made the whole wide world," quoth he; <br />"That's right, my boy," I said. <br />Said son: "He mad the mountains soar, <br />And all the plains lie flat; <br />But Dad, what did he do before <br /> He did all that? <br /> <br />Said I: "Creation was his biz; <br />He set the stars to shine; <br />The sun and moon and all that is <br />Were His unique design. <br />The Cosmos is his concrete thought, <br />The Universe his chore..." <br />Said Son: "I understand, but what <br /> Did He before?" <br /> <br />I gave it up; I could not cope <br />With his enquiring prod, <br />And must admit I've little hope <br />Of understanding God. <br />Indeed I find more to my mind <br />The monkey in the tree <br />In whose crude form Nature defined <br /> Our human destiny. <br /> <br />Thought I: "Why search for Deity <br />In visionary shape? <br />'Twould better be if we could see <br />The angel in the ape. <br />Let mystic seek a God above: <br />Far wiser he who delves, <br />To find in kindliness and love <br /> God in ourselves."<br /><br />Robert William Service<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-ape-and-god/
