Rev. David Wynn
“It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself
if you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul;
if you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.
--
Oriah Mountain Dreamer
No poem or teaching is perfect and there are things about The Invitation that have bothered me. THIS is the stanza from this poet that has bothered me the most. I feel very invested in honest stories! But more than that…it’s that word “faithless.” I used to change it to “faithful” because I was so triggered by it, until I read the author’s explanation.
“As the original version of “The Invitation” was copied and shared by people all over the world, the most frequent change made to it was to substitute the world
faithful
for the world
faithless.
I received phone calls and letters asking, sometimes demanding, that I explain my use of the word
faithless.
People didn’t like it. It made them uncomfortable.
It is uncomfortable when someone perceives us as breaking faith with past promises. Yet, if we live fully, it is inevitable that this will sometimes happen, because change is inevitable, and commitments, if they are to remain vital, must be remade and renewed.”
That seems like a slippery slope to us doesn’t it. We want things to be more constant and predictable than that. We want to think we can hold all manner of heartbreak at bay with a well-placed vow or promise. Has betrayal ever set you free? I know, I know, triggered…let’s talk Sunday!
