{"id":4142,"date":"2026-01-24T16:32:52","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T00:32:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stevegillard.com\/erleichda\/?p=4142"},"modified":"2026-01-24T16:32:52","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T00:32:52","slug":"there-are-no-diplomas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevegillard.com\/erleichda\/2026\/01\/24\/there-are-no-diplomas\/","title":{"rendered":"There Are No Diplomas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\n <\/p>\n

There Are No Diplomas<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve got a Bone to Pick
\nwith the Dogma Trainers
\nWho Insist<\/p>\n

The Creator
\nSet This Place Up
\nas a Boarding School,<\/p>\n

With Classes in
\nWorship and Obedience
\nto Commandments
\nCast In Stone,<\/p>\n

and Instructors
\nin Disciplines
\nWritten in Ancient Tongues
\nand Printed in
\nLeatherbound Libraries,<\/p>\n

With Grades to Divide
\nThe Sheep from The Goats,
\nRecorded in Books of
\nLife and Death,
\nto Make Judgments
\nThat Last to
\nEternity and Beyond.<\/p>\n

What If
\nThis Cosmos
\nWas Meant to Be
\na Playground of
\nChoose Your Adventure,
\nfor Light Beings
\nWho Shimmered
\nInto a Trillion Sunbeams,<\/p>\n

from a Blazing Love
\nWhose Only Desire Is to
\nExperience Adoration of
\nAll That Is?<\/p>\n

But Light Loves to
\nPlay in The Dark,
\nRisking Fear of
\nWhat Can\u2019t Be Seen,<\/p>\n

For the Joy of The Mystery,
\nthe Ecstasy of Creativity.<\/p>\n

But You Need Not Fear.<\/p>\n

There are Classes in
\nEvery Art of Illumination,
\nEvery Language of Laughter,
\nEvery Sport of Love
\nWrestling Fear Into an Embrace of
\nOvercoming and Sanguine Submission.<\/p>\n

You Cannot Fail.<\/p>\n

Your Divinity
\nWill Not Be Graded.
\nThere Are No Diplomas.<\/p>\n

Only The Next Adventure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  There Are No Diplomas I\u2019ve got a Bone to Pick with the Dogma Trainers Who Insist The Creator Set This Place Up as a Boarding School, With Classes in Worship and Obedience to Commandments Cast In Stone, and Instructors in Disciplines Written in Ancient Tongues and Printed in Leatherbound Libraries, With Grades to Divide […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poems"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t