The Idol
A man picked up a piece of wood,
And with a sculptor’s eye,
Saw something special in the log
That no one else could spy.
It was a vision in his mind
But in the wood did hide,
As if there was a curtain there
That he must fling aside.
He started carving with his knife
To shave the wood away –
The dross from end he focused on
At his heart’s first survey.
The task seemed long to watching eyes,
Strokes tedious and slow,
But time means naught for worshiper,
E’en for this embryo.
Devoted labor fin’lly done;
He put the treasured thing
Above his eyes, on pedestal –
He’s servant, now, to king.
And thus creator man became
The less – a worshiper;
And he – in time and sight and thought,
Though first – a follower.
Before he fell upon his knees
Below the god he made,
He burned the log’s still pristine end,
Not knowing of a trade.
His wife, who’ll fall and worship, too,
Knocked piece of wood awry
Before he touched it with his knife
And only with his eye.
And when she put the timber back,
Mistaken was her aim,
The end reversed he looked upon –
He fed his god to flame.
———————————————
Isa.44:13-20 ““Another shapes wood, he extends a measuring line; he outlines it with red chalk. He works it with planes and outlines it with a compass, and makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of man, so that it may sit in a house. 14 Surely he cuts cedars for himself, and takes a cypress or an oak and raises it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow. 15 Then it becomes something for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also makes a fire to bake bread. He also makes a god and worships it; he makes it a graven image and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat as he roasts a roast and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” 17 But the rest of it he makes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships; he also prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god.” 18 They do not know, nor do they understand, for He has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend. 19 No one recalls, nor is there knowledge or understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then I make the rest of it into an abomination, I fall down before a block of wood!” 20 He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver himself, nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
—————————————————————————————-
photo by Sanja Gjenero at http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/mB8AwMi/logs
—————————————————————————————-
© Dennis Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2013.
Read Full Post »
The Bard on the Hill 