Some of the kindest, warmest souls I’ve met
Wore no cross, read no Quran aloud on street corners,
Their charity quieter than the clatter of public piety –
Their faith tucked within, unseen but deeply felt.
I’ve found Christians whose goodness went beyond
A golden cross glinting on their chest,
Muslims whose gentleness blossomed
Not in loud performance, but in steady care –
Jews whose devotion outshone any finely spun kippah,
For they carried grace in their hands, not their hats.
True religion whispers softer than a sermon,
Moves with compassion in markets or empty roads,
Sits beside you without judgment on city benches,
Feeds you, listens, loves –
Not for applause or eager eyes,
But because the heart knows what is sacred.
Beware those louder than their prayers –
Who hold belief high above their deeds,
Their public spectacles shadowing hollow hearts;
These, the dangerous hypocrites,
Wearing faith like a costume,
Dangerous for they twist belief to power.
Let devotion find its place in silence,
In kindness unfurled for no one to see;
Religion is not a stage, nor compassion a show –
It lives, if it is real, quietly,
Radiating from those who need not prove
What burns deep,
Unseen but everlasting in the soul.
by Bakchos
