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The author wrote this poem at a moment when he was not feeling much faith in himself, he says. I believe him. I think it's a hopeful poem in the end. Reminds me of the various traditions about the meaning of the moon and why the sanctifying of the month via the newly announced moon sliver is the first command given to the Jewish People.
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by David Whyte
I want to write about faith:
About the way the moon
Rises over cold snow
Night after night
Faithful
Even in its fading from fullness
Slowly becoming
That last curling and impossible
Sliver of light
Before the final darkness.
But I have no faith myself.
I do not give it the smallest entry.
Let this, then, my small poem
Like a new moon
Slender and barely open
Be the first prayer
That opens me to faith.
posted by rabbi neil fleischmann @ 6:27 AM
2 Comments:
Wow
I gave a talk recently on Rosh Chodesh and spoke about why the new moon/month is the first mitzvah... I wish I would have thought of this poem at the time. The vort is that just as the moon gets small and almost disappears that's the number one lesson for us to learn, we grow and shine again.
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