Erling Thu

Category: Poems

  • Failing to stand up for the right values

    To be human is to speak
    Big words about yourself
    But still being scared
    Of lifting a single finger
    Against injustice
    In your own environment
    In that way a somebody turns out to be a nobody

    Failing to stand up for justice
    Failing to fight for the downtrodden
    Failing to speak for the voiceless
    Failing to meet the need in front of your eyes
    Failing to show loyalty to friends
    – because they have become unpopular with the majority
    Failing to practice love
    Failing to speak the truth
    Failing to defend the accused
    Failing to do your best to change yourself and society

    Not taking the appropriate action
    Quickly reduces you to a normal human nobody
    But acting according to divine values
    Put you on the path of becoming somebody

  • To be somebody is having strong convictions

    Being firmly rooted
    In your historic setting
    Being secure and committed
    To the traditions of your forefathers
    And yet be able to meet
    New schools of thought
    Foreign cultures
    Different peoples
    Young styles of music
    Up to date technology
    Modern methods
    And strange practices
    With an open mind
    And a willingness to understand

  • Having a dream

    To be somebody is having a dream
    That consumes you like a fire
    Giving you no rest but
    Motivating you to make great sacrifices
    Preparing you for bold initiatives
    Stirring you to adventurous living
    As you are pursuing your dream with joyful hope

    To be somebody is having great dreams
    Nor only for yourself and your own people
    But having dreams on behalf of the underprivileged,
    And having dreams for your affluent society
    Or the many suffering groups in the world

    When you are dreaming great dreams
    Of a changed society and a better world
    You will lay down your life as a seed of hope
    As a fruit everyone will see
    That you are really somebody
    For you are not living for yourself

  • Telling your own story

    To be somebody is tell your own story
    To share your own life with others
    Trying to communicate hope, faith and love
    That comes from your convictions
    And your compassionate heart
    That the best thing in life
    Is to be like you
    Completely dependent on God
    Fully alive and aware of his presence
    Totally abandoned to his grace
    Free to enjoy his marvellous acts of kindness!

  • Expressing yourself

    To be somebody is to express yourself
    Through letter and words
    Scattered on the futile ground of websites
    To be found by seekers
    And read by hungry souls
    Communicating life
    As you are sharing of yourself in the virtual world

  • Being complete – yourself

    To be somebody
    Is to be complete – yourself
    Having peace and harmony
    In spirit, soul and body
    Living a holistic life
    Fully integrating meaning and purpose
    In everything you are and do

    To really be somebody
    Is living a life of integrity
    As you are completely yourself

  • Unique strawberries

    To be somebody
    Is to marvel at the biological facts
    Of the spring fruit strawberries
    For strawberries are unique
    – Not only in taste and beauty
    But in their very construction
    It is the only fruit with seeds on the outside skin
    Birds and people indulge themselves
    With this unique and delicate fruit
    The birds become the source of spreading the seeds
    Thus ensuring that we will always have the fruit to enjoy
    People cultivate and grow strawberries
    Some to make a living
    And others to help people enjoy life

    To be somebody is to marvel
    At the simple facts of life
    Giving thanks to God for the details of nature
    As we worship him who keeps us alive
    In mysterious and artistic ways

    (Written after reading a comment by Jerry Mabb on my first strawberry poem.)

  • Creativity and beautiful living

    To be somebody is to create life
    In the virtual world or by physical material
    It is to give it a new form
    That touches other people’s lives
    Because it stirs their emotions
    Speaking with or without words
    Making the imagination pregnant
    Releasing exuberant joy
    And fruitful ideas of the heart
    Generating new forms of life

    To be somebody is releasing others into creative living
    By rejecting the self-absorbed life
    For a life of generosity and nobility
    The great things of a creative life
    Come out of small acts of faithfulness and love
    Every creative act is created in a generous heart
    Not out of selfishness or self-indulgence
    Creativity and generosity always result in a work of beauty

  • Free to create a new lifestyle

    To be somebody is to be free
    From dead forms and unnatural rituals
    – of the old traditional religion
    Not giving in to artificial patterns
    – of modern Christianity
    Not serving inhuman systems
    – of political ideologies
    Not giving in to any thing that stifles life

    To be free is to create your own lifestyle
    By submitting to the design of your Creator
    Only when you choose to be the person
    You are designed to be in the image of God
    You are enabled to create a beautiful life
    Because you are free to choose the beauty of holiness

    To be somebody is to realise
    That freedom and bondage
    Depend on your own decision

  • Standing tall and upright

    To be somebody is to stand tall
    In the midst of opposition
    Standing upright on your own feet
    With your head lifted high
    Receiving scorn and mockery
    As token of distinction
    Taking despising remarks
    From the political correct people
    As medals of highest honour