Mother laughed when the seer proclaimed that she -- she of ten-score summers! -- would conceive me. But I've heard no laughter during this three-day journey, only that YAH Himself will provide.
YAH, that Fear in the darkness murmuring promises -- yes, I know what He will provide. For as we scrabble on this slope, I see father hefting the fire, the rope, the bright-edged blade.
Would that another provide. Would that some king commute this sentence, some prophet foresee a new future, some priest lift the wood from my neck and bear it up this lonely mount step by step by step.
Postscript: To listen to audio of this and other stories, please download Season One of the I Saw Lightning Fall podcast here.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
About Me
About The Blog
Archive
Original Fiction
Special Features
The Middle Shelf
Middle Shelf Stories
Stealing Is Bad
Unless otherwise noted, all material is copyright © 2007 - 2019 by Loren Eaton.
Credit Where Credit Is Due
Header by Kyle Curran (mailtokyle [at] yahoo [dot] com)
Profile picture courtesy of Bill Gozansky Photography (www.billgozansky.com)
Profile picture courtesy of Bill Gozansky Photography (www.billgozansky.com)
11 comments:
Marginal Notes
"Moriah" is based on the account of Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac; see Genesis 21:1-19. The title refers to a mountain in the Middle East where Jerusalem would eventually be built. It's highest peak is Golgotha.
... YAH Himself will provide. A poetic form of Yahweh; see Song of Songs 8:6, alternative reading.
YAH, that Fear in the darkness ... A name for God used only twice in the biblical text, both times in conjunction with the title character of this story, Isaac; see Genesis 31:42, 53.
I loved it. Thanks, Loren!
Touching. I like how this explores belief and seems to merge the tales of Abraham's sacrifice with Jesus and how the YAH quotes fit in like puzzle pieces.
P.S. The link to this in the Advent page takes you to the blog home page not here.
Sam.
Gracias, sir.
Aidan,
Glad you enjoyed it. I'm not one of those people who finds Jesus under every stone in the Bible, but the parallels did surprise me when I started looking at the story. Also, the sacrifice of Isaac is just so full of irony and tension that it practically begged for flash fiction treatment.
I forgot that name of God. This is my favorite story so far.
Deeply moving. Thanks for the Notes :)
......dhole
CR,
You're too kind. Interesting name, isn't it? It jolts my imagination to realize that only Isaac ever uses it in the Bible.
Donna,
Thanks so much. Glad you liked it.
You can really feel the fight between will and obligation here.
You know, the original story never mentions Isaac's emotional state, but it's hard to imagine there wasn't some sort of strong internal conflict going on. I'm glad that came through here.
Post a Comment