The 60-Second Sabbath

Loss

  • Amazing Grace 1

    Nancy's favorite hymn,"Amazing Grace,"was what she wanted sungat her funeral. Several days after her deaththe family sat downwith a patient funeral directorto settle on the details. "No," my father said,"That's such a cliche;there are better hymns." No doubt there are,and… Continue reading

  • Whose Heart

    Whose heart is thisbattered, shattered,scattered in pieces on my bedroom floor? Ah, it's mine. Unspoken, broken,I block the entrance,shoulder the bureau to barricade the door;I quote the raven: "Nevermore!" Text, image and audio © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights… Continue reading

  • Job II

    And what would you have said?"Life sucks"?"There is no answer"?"God is capricious and uncaring"?"God? What God?""Try meth instead"? I would have sat beside himand wept. Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.        Continue reading

  • Two Great Instructors

    Throughout lifeI have been taughtin tandemby two great instructors–grief and amazement. These may be,in actuality,the only two teachersI'll ever haveor ever need. What have you learnedthat has not comethrough loss? What have you learnedthat has not comethrough wonder? Text and… Continue reading

  • Not Always So

    Yesterday,a scare with the cats:    hours of anxious waiting,    hours of driving, thirsty for reassurance,    hundreds of dollars,    hundreds of tears.and suddenly,all is well. Just like that,all is well–we are home–    the cats more appreciative… Continue reading

  • Denver Art Museum, Holy Saturday, 2011

    I The art of New Spain, 1598-1821.I sit on a creaking camp stoolsurrounded by assorted grim Jesuseswho bleed,who hang their heads with eternal weariness.Sad, solitary suffering,standing forever with hands bound,hanging forever with xylophone ribs. This is Good Friday stuff,not yet… Continue reading

  • Snapshots

    I On vacation I was asked,"Why don't you take pictures of people?"It was both a question and an accusation. Because the you in the photono longer exists.Only you, now, exist. You are not that external form.You are what I hold… Continue reading

  • The Widow

    And now she is a widow walking into the dim parlor,pausing between their worn chairs,watching rain run down the window,listening to the unfamiliar silence,picking up the book she'd been reading,touching the top of the bookmark,sliding open the pages,finding the paragraph… Continue reading

  • To Be Undone

    At the speculum of spirit,unmask.At the mirror of candor,undress.Do you like what you see? To be with Godis to be undone. Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • God Stopped By

    God stopped bywhile Adam was naming the animals. A black dog stepped forward:"Julian," said Adam. A long-haired cat:"Carla."  A brindled, full-uddered cow:"Samantha." God smiled and shook his head."No, Adam, that's not it.Give them generic names.Julian is a dog.Carla is a… Continue reading