May 14, 2008

Lamentation

This is the nation possessed by Coyote!

This is the nation that's gnawed off three legs
and is still in the trap and
wonders what trap you're talking about.

This is the nation that
took the loot to the drive-in
and spent it right away and
thinks that's an alibi.

This is the nation that insists
it didn't do it
and you can't prove a thing.

Alas, Babylon!
It's been fun!

1 comment:

forrest said...

I've been bothered, all along, by what Stringfellow said about the spirits of nations, that all were alike fallen, and might equally serve as the prototype examples of Powers in rebellion.

So, yes, I can't say that other nations don't do such things.

But my own nation does them, has done them shamelessly and incorrigably for a very long time now. And we have seemed well past due for a reckoning, which has been creeping up on us...

After the severe persecutions Quakers underwent during the Restoration, London Meeting sent a letter to the other meetings in England, asking what they could say about Judgements visited on their persecutors. One meeting replied that they had seen no such misfortunes, "except for a certain hardening of their hearts."

The most visible consequence of our misdeeds is the ongoing collapse of our economic system. But are we in any spiritual condition to recognize the causes in ourselves, and respond with sensitive intelligence, or will our bedeviled misperceptions just lead us to dig the hole deeper? Let's see!