Oct. 21st, 2023 at 9:52 PM
I do not look for holy saints to guide me on my way,
Or male and female devilkins to lead my feet astray.
If these are added, I rejoice---if not, I shall not mind,
So long as I have leave and choice to meet my fellow-kind.
For as we come and as we go (and deadly-soon go we!)
The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!
Thus I will honour pious men whose virtue shines so bright
(Though none are more amazed than I when I by chance do right),
And I will pity foolish men for woe their sins have bred
(Though ninety-nine per cent. of mine I brought on my own head).
And, Amorite or Eremite, or General Averagee,
The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!
And when they bore me overmuch, I will not shake mine ears,
Recalling many thousand such whom I have bored to tears.
And when they labour to impress, I will not doubt nor scoff;
Since I myself have done no less and---sometimes pulled it off.
Yea, as we are and we are not, and we pretend to be,
The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!
And when they work me random wrong, as oftentimes hath been,
I will not cherish hate too long (my hands are none too clean).
And when they do me random good I will not feign surprise.
No more than those whom I have cheered with wayside charities.
But, as we give and as we take---whate'er our takings be---
The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!
But when I meet with frantic folk who sinfully declare
There is no pardon for their sin, the same I will not spare
Till I have proved that Heaven and Hell which in our hearts we have
Show nothing irredeemable on either side of the grave.
For as we live and as we die---if utter Death there be---
The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!
Deliver me from every pride---the Middle, High, and Low---
That bars me from a brother's side, whatever pride he show.
And purge me from all heresies of thought and speech and pen
That bid me judge him otherwise than I am judged. Amen!
That I may sing of Crowd or King or road-borne company,
That I may labour in my day, vocation and degree,
To prove the same in deed and name, and hold unshakenly
(Where'er I go, whate'er I know, whoe'er my neighbor be)
This single faith in Life and Death and to Eternity:
``The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!''
(Rudyard Kipling)
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debriswoman --many thanks :))
Comments
Nowhere does it say "Go ahead and hate your black neighbors, your Jewish neighbors, your Muslim neighbors, your gay neighbors, your neighbors whose food smells weird to you, your Hispanic neighbors, your non-English-speaking neighbors, your Korean neighbors, or your neighbors whose child sometimes behaves strangely."
If you try loving some of them, some of them might love you back.
...and there's the story of Hillel and the pagan, and the story in Haggadah about the plagues...you know those?
Here you are:
https://med-cat.dreamwidth.org/2220394.html
https://med-cat.dreamwidth.org/2416183.html
And I know that it's permitted to violate any of the Laws in order to save a life. The man whose valuable ox fell down, and though it was the Sabbath, many people labored hard to get the ox back up on its feet on solid ground. And my late High Priestess (who was a JeWitch) said that instead of prohibiting organ transplants, they should encourage them to save more lives. (She had kidney problems, and she couldn't get a transplant because she had some sort of oddball immune system anomaly that would make her reject any transplants. So she died when her dialysis port got infected and opened up, and she bled to death on her kitchen floor, with the phone in her hand dialing 9-1-1. I miss her too.
Quite as you say...sorry to hear about your friend, and yes, Orthodox Judaism actually does permit organ transplants
May their memory be a blessing.
I knew the first one. My childhood piano-and-voice teacher was a cantor, and he'd tell stories like that before or after my lesson. I miss him.
And my late High Priestess was a JeWitch, and she said that instead of organ tranplants being prohibited, they should be ENCOURAGED, because they save lives. A farmer had a valuable ox, which somehow fell down, an although it happened on the Sabbath, many people worked very hard to get the ox back up on its feet on solid ground. Any of the Laws may be broken in order to save a life. (My High Priestess had kidney trouble, but she couldn't get a transplant because she had some odd immune system anomaly that would make her reject ANY transplant. So she died because her dialysis port went septic and broke open, and she bled out on the kitchen floor, with the phone in her hands dialing 9-1-1. I miss her too.
So you play piano and sing? :)
I sing, sometimes without provocation. I sang alto in the school chorus. And sometimes the entire universe is a song cue, and a word will remind me of a lyric, and the next thing you know I'm bellowing a fairly bawdy Leslie Fish ballad.
that's great :) I like to sing but I usually don't, at least not when someone else can hear :P
I sang in the school chorus in high school. And I worked as a radio announcer and dj (and engineer) after that. I don't mind making a fool of myself in front of an audience.
And, as for my former friends, next week is Samhain (Halloween in English), a night when the veil between the worlds is thinnest. I will drink a toast to absent friends, and to all my ancestors, genetic or spiritual - I'll even try to forgive the Puritans :-)