Trust and Obey

Trust and Obey

Claudia Stanek

Trust and obey,
for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus,
but to trust and obey.
— John H. Sammis (1887)

Obedience is the knowledge of proper action
or inaction, beyond carved-stone commands:
why the dog sits and stays for a bowl of kibble.
why the kid cleans her plate for ice cream,

How does a dog trust the person who leaves
him out in the summer sun, shade-less and waterless,
without a thought? How does a child trust
one parent who holds a knife to the other?

God is not a cruel human.
God is not a vicious parent.
God chose to go waterless into the sun-filled desert.
God let himself be killed.

God is the body that wouldn’t stay dead.
God is the mind that wouldn’t give in.
God is the love that wants me
to trust no one else.

I do not yet know death’s name.
I know the name of the God
who waits for me at the threshold.
Because I am his, he trusts I will be there.

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Claudia Stanek
Author

Claudia M. Stanek’s work has been turned into a libretto, been part of an art exhibition, and been translated into Polish. Her poems exist online, in print, and in her chapbook, Language You Refuse to Learn. She holds an MFA from Bennington College. Her rescued dogs manage her life.

Photography by Paul Kim