Dakota Garilli expertly explores the age-old tensions between religion and sexuality, parents and children.
—
Because He Reads the Bible
When I am nearly thirteen, my father reads my diary,
which, even though I am a boy, is what I call the journal
Ms. O’Keefe has given me to write in every day for seventh-
grade English class. As I sit on the couch watching Jeopardy,
my father emerges from his bedroom with the book
in his hand, open to the latest entry. I
don’t know if he’s ever read it before, but tonight
he asks what I mean when I say I like boys.
Like friends, you mean like friends, right?
and I think this question is harder than any
Double Jeopardy I’ve ever seen and like friends like friends
and he is staring
and worried, so I say yes.
He rips out the page. He tells me to write it again.
I know he means different. Tonight, my father
convenes his own Council of Nicaea, judgment of one.
He gets to decide what goes in the book, how to rewrite
the story and my father, like Abraham
and every other father, is willing to sacrifice some part of his son
in the name of what is holy.
***
Interested in submitting poetry to The Good Men Project? Check out our guidelines.
Like The Good Men Project on Facebook
Photo by Chris Yarzab /Flickr
I enjoyed your poem. compelling story and perfectly constructed analogy. How convenient Erin is here to reiterate its message. P.s I’m googling you
Beautiful poem. Abraham loved his god more than his son. Abraham wasn’t testing God; God wasn’t testing him, though we like to think that now. The reality is that Abraham loved his god more than he loved his son. That’s the difficult truth at the heart of the story. Thank you for this poem.
No, Abraham wasn’t testing God. But yes, God was testing Abraham. I understand if you don’t believe in Christian theology. But you can’t rewrite Christian theology to suit your own agenda. God was testing Abraham. This is very, very clear in the Bible. And yes, maybe Abraham did love God more then he loved his son. Or maybe Abraham had a different kind of love for God then he had for his son. After all, God is Abraham’s Father just as Abraham is his son’s father. Maybe it is not about a heirarchy of love. It makes sense that God… Read more »
I’m sorry about this. It’s a very sad story. Thank you for sharing it.
Maybe Abraham really failed the test. When someone says to you “Do you love me enough to kill your son for me?” the answer should not be “Yes”. Even if it’s God asking. Especially if it’s God asking.
Per Christian theology, in which the story is rooted, Abraham did not fail the test at all. If you read the story you will see that God stops him from killing his son because of Abrahams ultimate faith and trust in God’s plan, even when he didn’t understand God’s plan and he was deeply saddened by God’s plan. God tested his level of faith and trust and Abraham passed it without actually having to sacrifice his son. Keep in mind that God had a special relationship with Abraham and God did not ask all Fathers to sacrifice their sons for… Read more »
What your Dad did was wrong. But it’s not like Abraham. Abraham was not sacrificing his son because of a sense of feeling worried or shame about an aspect of his son. Abraham was not trying to conform his son into a box he wanted him to be in. The parable of the sacrifice of Abraham’s son was about the level of trust Abraham truly had in God that God put to test. Abraham LOVED his son. Just as God loved his son Jesus. And just as God was willing to sacrifice and did sacrifice Jesus, God wanted to know… Read more »