Printer Friendly
The Free Library
5,660,707 articles and books
Member login
User name  
Password 
 
Join us Forgot password?

Belief.


"And he believed in the Lord; and it was accounted to him as righteousness Righteousness
See also Virtuousness.

Amos

prophet of righteousness. [O.T.: Amos]

Astraea

goddess of righteousness. [Gk. Myth.: Walsh Classical, 36]

Benedetto, Don

Catholic teacher of moral precepts. [Ital. Lit.
." (Genesis 15:6)
no;       Belief is more
than listening to the echo
                           of the unicorn's voice
chanting
                   as it leaps from mesa  to mesa
        above deep chasms in a steep desert valley,
in search of the griffin
         that guards the egg of the phoenix
                  waiting to hatch and emerge
                                                    in flames.

no;     Belief is more
than opening a book
                          of ancient incantations
written in an undecipherable script
to be uttered in an inexpressible language
         that only the moon understands and speaks
as she elucidates her wisdom to the stars
         on nights
                          of the lunar eclipse.

no;     Belief is more
than cooking in a cauldron
                          a broth
                                  that brews:
olive leaves whispering their oracles in autumn
          and soft moss praying under snow in winter
                   and clover conversing with angels in spring
                           and mushrooms seeking portents
                                                  in summer.

no;      Belief is, deep-down,
                               the dry Bones
stripped of unnecessary sinews and flesh;
                               the brittle, bared, sun-bleached skeleton
scraped of extraneous skin and muscle,
        exposed;
and Belief is that Wind,
        that touches, like the hand of prophecy, the son of man
                 standing head-bowed in the midst
of a desert valley of dry Bones;
that Wind enabling him to lift his eyes
                          to breathe and justly answer:
"Yes;
these Bones can live."
COPYRIGHT 2004 Association for Religion and Intellectual Life
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2004, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

 Reader Opinion

Title:

Comment:



 

Article Details
Printer friendly Cite/link Email Feedback
Title Annotation:Poetry
Author:Azriel, Yakov
Publication:Cross Currents
Article Type:Poem
Date:Mar 22, 2004
Words:221
Previous Article:Terrorism: a problem for ethics or pastoral theology?
Next Article:Prophecy.(Poetry)(Brief Article)(Poem)



Related Articles
OUR PAGES: Why Poetry?('National Review' to publish poem in every issue)(Brief Article)
Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
"Stories in my life".
Poems to teach by: poetry helps us to dream bigger, aspire to greater things, and value the joy in teaching.
Barrett, Faith & Miller, Cristanne, eds. Words for the Hour: A New Anthology of American Civil War Poetry.(Brief Article)(Young Adult Review)(Book...
Versus verse: Poets Against War.
Inside the Outside.(Inside the Outside: An Anthology of Avant-Garde American Poets)(Brief article)(Book review)
Symbolism in the poetry of S.M. Burns-Ncamashe.
Roessel, David and Rampersad, Arnold (Eds.): Langston Hughes: Poetry for Young People Series.(Brief article)(Children's review)(Book review)
Umit Inatci, Yarilma.

Terms of use | Copyright © 2009 Farlex, Inc. | Feedback | For webmasters | Submit articles