Someday, after we have cleaned the garage
And fixed the old lawnmower—
After we’ve taken the kids to the Grand Canyon
And fixed up the old family photo album—
When things settle down after that
And we’ve caught up on the knitting
And finish entering our recipes into the book—
In our culture, overcoming a problem
Is a great accomplishment and is worth
One hundred awesome points.
And blaming someone else for it
Is worth a thousand.
The fool will laugh and scoff
And think you an idiot when he
Sees you being careful to vet
The thing he believed on a whim,
Simply because he heard it.
But let the thing be something
False about him and see if he does not
Demand on that particular occasion
The most stringent vetting available.
Such are those who will adopt
A lifetime of scoffing without first
Looking to see how it turns out
For scoffers in the end.
Man with the Cat. See credit.
One could tell that the man was intrigued
At having the truth in the room from time to time,
But he never warmed up to the idea of
Having it move in, and would often
Put it out with the cat.
Nothing is intended with regard to the identity of the man in the portrait.
If your plan requires
That people have to change
In order to get it done—
Surely there is nothing wrong
With either my church or yours.
By the most peculiar coincidence,
I know of a great many churches
That adamantly remind the world
That no one can earn his own salvation,
And zero churches that teach that he can.
Now let us watch the man and see
Whether he takes a notion
To make himself any better
By use of whatever he learns along the way—
Or what excuse he gives if he does not.
Something tips the balance
From a matter-of-fact acknowledgment
Of what the others are doing wrong
To a bitter rage about it.
And though I cannot say what all may cause it,
It seems to happen most commonly
When one’s own shortcomings and sins
Have been removed from the equation.
It is the dream of a lifetime for so very many
That they could have a life detached from
The reality of cause-and-effect—
Such that they could be as careless
Or as stubborn or as rash as they like,
And never have those chickens come home to roost.
And they will invest their lives in that dream,
Enlisting the help of concoctions, clerics, and counselors
As needed to dull their minds—
And all the while, calling him the heretic
Who points out the realities of the very God
They claim to worship.
Though it may seem complex,
Their problem is quite simple:
They do not like this Reality into which God
Has set their lives, and are unwilling
To be accountable for their choices.
*The painting is Sophie Anderson’s No Walk Today. See the credits here.
