The most powerful stories
are the ones from which we instinctively recoil.
Take, for example,
Abraham's call to sacrifice his son, Isaac–
this is meant to be a doorway to the sacred?

It's a doorway to an empty elevator shaft.

Who is God?
What is sacrifice?
What is faith?

And the point isn't to answer these questions–
the point is to live into them,
including the pain,
taking the next step with Abraham,
who didn't answer Yes or No or Are you kidding?
but simply,
"Here I am."

Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.