A Preacher Turns in Bed at Night Over the Matter of Sacrifice

“Greater love hath no man than”
to lay down someone else’s life for

the Economy
somebody’s re-election
the welfare of the corporations
the greasing  of the wheels of oligarchy
The American Way( please define)
The American Dream( please define)
“ Life ,Liberty and the Pursuit Of”
anything you want.

There is talk of “national sacrifice”, starting with others.
When is national sacrifice ever really borne by the nation,
with no regard for race, paycheck, position or power?
Let’s start there and see where it goes.

There are the blithe calculations
by the pro-some-lifers and politicians
about how many deaths ( and whose) are acceptable
to preserve the American Way of Life.
What we are observing is the American way of death.

The Bible tells a story, rarely read, of general named Jepthah who made a vow to his God that if the Lord gave him victory over the Ammonites, he would offer as a burnt offering to the Lord the first person he saw coming out of his house when he came back home from battle. When he, victorious , returned home, his daughter, his only beloved child, came out to welcome  him with timbrels and dance. “I cannot break my vow”, he told her, the prepared the wood for the fire.

Such is the way of human sacrifice
and the deals we make with our gods.

Kylie eleison, Christe eleison ,Kyrie eleison.

Let not the holiness of true sacrifice be desecrated
by the apportioners of sacrifice.

Written May of 2020