I understand

[dukealien]

Edit one

I understand.

It is the will of God
for the strong to advance
and the inept to vanish.
I dare not beg your reconsideration.
I sure wish things were different.
To my core, nothing
I mean nothing 
is more sacred
than efficiency.
In your hands you hold
all men’s dignity,
all men’s purpose,
all men’s peace of mind. 
Without you,
A man has no task to accomplish,
no place to be,
and no role to fulfill.
You are more powerful
than a general,
more wise 
than a judge,
and more godly
than a preacher.

To say that I respect you
would be an understatement.
I don't accept your discernment.
I worship your discernment.
In the last days,
all men will bow down to you. 
In the last days
You will take us away from death.
In the last days
You will finally bring us to ultimate
efficiency.


Persevere.


(snip)

A very thought-provoking poem.  Depending upon who we take the speaker to be, the meaning changes.

If we take the easiest speaker (a person addressing God), the tone could be transparently (and frighteningly) devotional, or ironic.

If we choose another option (the speaker is Science, or the Machine) and the party addressed is Evolution, God, the uncaring universe, Science, or the Machine, interpretations and tones differ.  But in that matrix, the two tones remain devotional and ironic.  One could even read the poem as God addressing Himself, and not necessarily the Christian God.  On a more earth(l)y plain, it could be a woman addressing a man, or a failing offspring addressing the parent.

The tone is set by the reader's understanding (g) of the first and last lines:  is "I understand" said reverentially/with acceptance, or ironically/with hidden denial?

The ambiguity is very interesting.  Some might prefer more hints as to who the author means to be speaking, and whom addressed, but I like it very well as is.

Suggestion:  "I sure wish things were different" jars because it's informal/colloquial where the rest of the poem is quite formal in tone.  You could almost say, "I do wish things were different" despite its slight archaism; perhaps, "I wish these things were different," or the like.

An interesting and complicated concept.  Good!