Friday, December 06, 2013
"Sacrifice"--poem by Dorothy
Sacrifice
Forget sacrifice. . . . The question is how to remain faithful to all the impossible, necessary resurrections.
Lynn Ungar
Frankly, I’ve never understood it—
this notion that by giving up something
(say candy or cigarettes for lent)
you would thereby gain something worthwhile
in return—
such as what?
God’s love?
Self-respect?
Evidence of inner discipline?
Would a deity, I wonder, really
care
whether or not you smoked cigars
or ate nothing but
lentils and onions
for a few weeks?
And why would you have to
“sacrifice” in order to receive
that one’s love?
What kind of love is that?
One based on a kind of barter system?
Quid pro quo?
Personally, I prefer
the Easter part of the story—
the antique tale of
the death and resurrection
of the ancient god,
the one who kept dying
with the seasons
then getting
reborn
year after year,
century after century,
who knows how long.
This is where
real courage
is required—
the willingness to surrender
all that you are
for an unknown you to come,
the trust that only by rising anew
from darkness
again and again
will all these deaths
bring light.
Dorothy Walters
November 23, 2013
(picture found on internet)
