Showing posts with label Sarah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sarah. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 9, 2021

Hagar's Prayer*

   



  

      Blessed One-ness, Breathing Existence,

I once was Sarah:Rich,Loved,Able to laugh at everything,Even God,Especially God.I had a place, a home, a mission.

But now I'm Hagar:Broke,Alone,About to cry at everything,Even God.Especially God.Wandering, in the desert, hungry. 

This is my fault.I should have seen this comingI should have protected myself,I refused to accurately assess my situation.Oh, the fantasies I had of love and success.

No! This is Sarah's fault,She, with her connectionsAnd her covenantAnd no room for anyone else.Oh, the promises she made when she needed me.

No, this is Abraham's fault!He pretends to have no agencyBut he's the one with the money and the power,He's the one who talks to God (or so he says).Oh, the bullshit he slings about destiny.

All I have now is a cat named IshmaelAnd he expects to be fedAnd watered.Meow Meow, he's starving.I can't look at him,Oh, I can't watch him die.All I can do is pray.

Blessed One-nessBreathing Existence,Send me a social workerOr food stampsOr a lotto ticketOr friendsOr a magical flowing spring of plenty that pours out from the rocks.

Or something.Amen. 
*Originally Printed in Journal of Feminist Studies In Religion: #35, 1

Thursday, August 2, 2018

Everyone Who Hears Will Laugh With Me




וַתֹּ֣אמֶר שָׂרָ֔ה צְחֹ֕ק עָ֥שָׂה לִ֖י אֱלֹהִ֑ים כָּל־הַשֹּׁמֵ֖עַ יִֽצְחַק־לִֽי׃
Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter; everyone who hears will laugh with me.”

May God bring you laughter 
This funny month of Adar. Because,
Having invented banana peels,
Ladders topped with teetering buckets of water,

Also dictators and children
And plagues and prophets
And villains hoisted on their own petards,
God appears to love a good pratfall.

And then there's that 
Magic comedy number three: 
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
Those cut ups!

Sarah wanted an audience,
She loved a good spiel
Until her husband tried to kill their son, then
She stopped giggling. 

Did God also invent antisemites? Racists?
What about autocrats? Fascists?
Why is Purim funny?
C’mon, laugh with me.