Sorry this is a day late! Sunday got away from me.
"Still--still we say thank you, dark though it is"(p.14).
Thankfulness, praise and worship in the midst of darkness, as poet W.S. Merwin and Winner affirm, can be beautiful and necessary, even in their apparent contradiction. When have you been able to offer thanks in the middle of darkness? Has there ever been a time when you agreed with Winner's aunt and uncle--that it would be dishonest to offer thanks in such a time?
Next up: Ode on God's Absence, pages 15-20
3 comments:
While I understand, in theory, the comment about the poem encouraging lying, I don't agree. This is probably over simplified, but there are times in my life when I can't pray. And all I can do is think about what it is that I'm thankful for. And sometimes it's a simple as my cup of coffee, or that the cat sits near me and purrs. Nothing much, but in the midst of what can feel like overwhelming chaos or darkness, the listing of the smallest and most simple gratitudes have sometimes been the prayers that help me move from one place to the next.
I'm reminded of this prayer by a Holocaust survivor:
I believe in the sun
though it is late in rising.
I believe in love
though it is absent.
I believe in God
though He is silent.
Sarah I so agree.
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