{"id":3514,"date":"2013-01-02T11:37:57","date_gmt":"2013-01-02T11:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/?p=3514"},"modified":"2018-07-19T20:03:29","modified_gmt":"2018-07-19T20:03:29","slug":"a-brief-for-the-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/2013\/01\/a-brief-for-the-defense.html","title":{"rendered":"“A Brief for the Defense”"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

My favorite poem<\/span><\/a> from the recent series by Andrew Sullivan (The Dish), Poems from the Year<\/em>, contains refrains from the Old Testament, especially Ecclesiastes. \u00a0Even today’s reading from Nehemiah 8, where “the joy of the Lord is my strength,” sounds more poignantly relevant when considered next to the poetic wisdom of Gilbert:<\/span><\/p>\n

“A Brief for the Defense,” by\u00a0<\/strong>Jack Gilbert<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sorrow everywhere. Slaughter everywhere. If babies
\nare not starving someplace, they are starving
\nsomewhere else. With flies in their nostrils.
\nBut we enjoy our lives because that\u2019s what God wants.
\nOtherwise the mornings before summer dawn would not
\nbe made so fine. The Bengal tiger would not
\nbe fashioned so miraculously well. The poor women
\nat the fountain are laughing together between
\nthe suffering they have known and the awfulness
\nin their future, smiling and laughing while somebody
\nin the village is very sick. There is laughter
\nevery day in the terrible streets of Calcutta,
\nand the women laugh in the cages of Bombay.
\nIf we deny our happiness, resist our satisfaction,
\nwe lessen the importance of their deprivation.
\nWe must risk delight. We can do without pleasure,
\nbut not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have
\nthe stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless
\nfurnace of this world. To make injustice the only
\nmeasure of our attention is to praise the Devil.
\nIf the locomotive of the Lord runs us down,
\nwe should give thanks that the end had magnitude.
\nWe must admit there will be music despite everything.
\nWe stand at the prow again of a small ship
\nanchored late at night in the tiny port
\nlooking over to the sleeping island: the waterfront
\nis three shuttered cafes and one naked light burning.
\nTo hear the faint sound of oars in the silence as a rowboat
\ncomes slowly out and then goes back is truly worth
\nall the years of sorrow that are to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  My favorite poem from the recent series by Andrew Sullivan (The Dish), Poems from the Year, contains refrains from the Old Testament, especially Ecclesiastes. \u00a0Even today’s reading from Nehemiah 8, where “the joy of the Lord is my strength,” sounds more poignantly relevant when considered next to the poetic wisdom of Gilbert: “A Brief…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":461,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[265,1436,130,122,962],"tags":[593,1438,1441,1437,1439,1440,363,1135],"class_list":["post-3514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-evil","category-poetry","category-suffering","category-theology","category-writing","tag-andrew-sullivan","tag-ecclesiastes","tag-is-life-worth-living","tag-jack-gilbert","tag-nehemiah","tag-pain-and-pleasure","tag-prayers-for-strength","tag-the-dish"],"yoast_head":"\n"A Brief for the Defense" - Fellowship of Saints and Sinners<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/2013\/01\/a-brief-for-the-defense.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""A Brief for the Defense" - Fellowship of Saints and Sinners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  My favorite poem from the recent series by Andrew Sullivan (The Dish), Poems from the Year, contains refrains from the Old Testament, especially Ecclesiastes. \u00a0Even today’s reading from Nehemiah 8, where “the joy of the Lord is my strength,” sounds more poignantly relevant when considered next to the poetic wisdom of Gilbert: “A Brief…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/2013\/01\/a-brief-for-the-defense.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fellowship of Saints and Sinners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kristina.robbdover\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-02T11:37:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-07-19T20:03:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kristina Robb-Dover\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@saintplussinner\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@saintplussinner\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"A Brief for the Defense\" - 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