There was a time when everyone believed that the earth was flat. That the world was a cheap trick from a magician’s hat. That there is a place called heaven and a place called hell. They built temples and shrines, wrote verses and chimed. They appeased the gods and prayed for deliverance.
There was a time when everyone believed the sun revolved around the earth. And then for a while they believed the earth went around the sun. They believed in black holes and worm holes, in inertia and physical hyperboles. They looked for quarks and charms, for numbers prime and a force sublime. They chipped away at the blocks hoping to find the cause.
There was a time when everyone believed humans had to live eternal. They cured the plague, curbed the epidemic. They studied the cells, the brain, the spleen, and made 3-D printed organs to save every queen. They ate the chicken, enshrined the bats, grilled the cow and protected the neighborhood cats. They swayed to the whims of survivalistic fads, and held on to their scientific facts.
There was a time when everyone believed that there was a right way and a wrong way. And that life had to be led a certain way. They formed rules, imposed laws. There were traffic rules, marriage laws, building codes and tax laws. There were dress codes, grammar rules and social norms. They believed all men were equal but some were not, that women didn’t matter until they said “like the hell not”. Then all were equal but animals were not. Every two score and one, the mores changed, the laws changed but
beliefs stayed.
We will always believe
In one thing or another.