A Tale of Two Altars

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ACT I – The Light Descends

In the beginning, the light came to us—
Not as a sharp ray, but as a human—
To teach, wake us up to not miss the bus,
To follow what’s right so love can lumen.

That Human One sacrificed everything—
Even though there was no glory they sought—
But before enduring their own death’s sting,
They passed on their mission to those they taught.

Thought to be dead, those scared students knew not
Until they saw their Teacher once again.
Their mission given them—cleansed of their rot—
They knew to include all within their pen.

Yet, it didn’t take this “church” all that long
To forget their way and lose Christ’s love song.

ACT II – Matrimony to Manipulation

I, Marcion, loved till I left out too much…
And I, Origen, was too inclusive…
A hammer, I made the church exclusive—
You should know me—Athanasius and such.
Yes, dear chap, heretics were a nice touch;
I, Augustine, found babies abusive,
Thought they needed salvation—conclusive—
Those are the tarnished pearls I chose to clutch.

These are the voices of leaders now past,
Who filled the church with lots of notions—
Many good, but enough harm to kill fast
The teacher’s true word with hatred’s potions.
Others came and went to make hate outlast
In Love’s name—swelling the raging oceans.

ACT III – The Cross of Iron

Then an occurrence suddenly took place,
A tattered, homely bride married the beast
And, in their coital bier, had a lush feast.
The intercourse led to a conjoined face,
A haunting image—horrid—lacking grace.
Their army, under chi-rho, never ceased
Until it consumed the west, not the east,
And would grow until it ran out of space.
Never to fear—expansion further west
To get east—who’s caring?—God’s providence
Expansion pack start an endless vacuum,
Millennia of horror dominance,
Torturing, staking, killing all the rest—
Burnings best, leaving nothing to exhume.

ACT IV – Today’s Shallow Sanctuary of Shame

How wonderfully great is our awesome God,
His masculine grace rains down like semen.
How wonderfully great is our awesome God,
He spares the rich while drowning poor sea men.

God bless capitalism all the time,
For God helps those who help themselves;
Such as the powerful ones
Served on silver spoons.

Let all the children come…
Pro-life till birth…
Some priests cum
Escaping nature.

Bless us,
Vitality markers.

ACT V – The Choice of Two Altars

And here is where this play must find its close,
After traversing this treacherous way,
Where the Teacher’s words were taught to expose
How sin and evil lead us all astray.

Teacher made the altar the human heart,
Yet, some followers chose a diff’rent path—
They ditched the Human One right from the start,
Worshipped wealth and status—ignored God’s wrath.

Two altars erected under one name,
But in all honesty, none are alike—
One’s there to worship itself, such a shame,
The other where the truest faith will spike.

The question we must ask to end this show—
Want to switch your altars, now that you know?

© 2025 Tristan Robert Lange. All rights reserved.
 
Tittu

Poet’s Note:
Written in my original The Globe’s Stage composite form.