As the Ruin Falls (by CS Lewis)
All this is flashy rhetoric about loving you.
I never had a selfless thought since I was born.
I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through:
I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn.
Peace, reassurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek,
I cannot crawl one inch outside my proper skin:
I talk of love – a scholar’s parrot may talk Greek –
But self-imprisoned, always end where I begin.
Only that now you have taught me (but how late) my lack.
I see the chasm. And everything you are was making
My heart into a bridge by which I might get back
From exile, and grow man. And now the bridge is breaking.
For this I bless you as the ruin falls. The pains
You give me are more precious than all other gains.
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I'll be gone volunteering at a kids' summer camp, starting Saturday, and I'll be gone all next week. Try to keep things together in my absence, and I'll see you all in August. . .
Thursday, July 24, 2008
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3 comments:
That's a very powerful poem.
Have a great time at camp!
Have fun!!
Therese - The poem is one of my favorites (which, oddly enough, is why I posted it). I especially like the line about 'a scholar's parrot may talk Greek'; it's so easy to 'talk the talk', but 'walking the walk' is hard. And often enough, I don't do it so well. . .
CM - Thanks; we had a lot of fun, and just a general good time. I mean, a week in the woods, sun, and water - how bad can it be?
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