The 60-Second Sabbath

weakness

  • Fault Lines

    We all have fault lines–    hidden veins of weakness,    those places where,    when stressed,    we are most likely to crack. Patch them with holy spackle:    bread and wine,    exchanged embraces,    stillness. Text and… Continue reading

  • Herod

    He cursed the visitors from the East,the so-called wise menwith their outlandish robesand queer accentsand preposterous pronouncements.  A week passed,and they had not returned. Stargazers, astrologers, bah!Why had he listened?They had betrayed him, yes?Or were they too stupid (too foreign)to… Continue reading

  • That Which Remains Buried

    I live withthe nagging feelingthat there remainsburied within me(not far from the surface–like a hastily interred body,in a dollar-store grave)something I thoughtwas dead,that wants–nay, needs–to come out,not to resurrect,but to be given a proper burial. Whatever the identityof this corpse,it's… Continue reading

  • Something to Be Said

    There is somethingto be saidfor standingon your own two feet. There is moreto be saidfor kneelingon your own two knees. Text and image © 2013 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • Colonel Mustard in the Conservatory

    "Be that as it may…"intoned the constable,"…the bloody candlestick was in your hand;you were in the conservatorywhere Colonel Mustard was founddead in a pool of his own blood;and you have clearly admitted–to several in the mansion–your hatred of Mustard's pomposity… Continue reading

  • Letting Go

    Strive for nothingness, the point of complete surrender, of acknowledged helplessness, weakness, poverty, detachment. All ideas of self released. Paradoxically, ironically, in surrender we finally know freedom—from pretense, fruitless self-talk, dissatisfaction, fear, superiority, jealousy, anger. We enter peace, compassion, clarity,… Continue reading

  • Drawing Lines

    When we draw lines to separate ourselves from those who are different, from those whom we don't understand, what we're really doing is protecting ourselves from our own weakness, fear and failure. But our weakness, fear and failure unite us… Continue reading

  • All Anger Comes from Fear

    A long time ago, someone I trust and love said to me "All anger comes from fear." That made me angry. Or rather, my response to what she said was to feel angry and defensive: "But my anger is justified.… Continue reading