Nobody Once Again
A prophet.
A myth.
Abraham who?
Please give any other answer in a comment or comment on these.
This week I once more found myself relegated to the isolation cell of « nobody ». It’s not the first time and I really find it difficult to believe I am alone there.
Several years ago when we were shopping for a kitchen sink, I knew I wanted a double sink with double drain boards. “Nobody wants those,” the saleslady informed me. At another store, we were able to order one, but we were told we would have to wait 3 weeks for delivery. The salesman seemed to be saying nobody wants to wait that long, but that is short when one thinks about how often the sink is used daily and for so many years, it’s worth waiting 3 weeks to get what one wants.
A frozen foods company used to stop by regularly and from time to time I would get some of their “American” ice cream. Then one day, they no longer carried it—nobody wants it, the salesman said. Nowadays, I don’t seem to need so much ice cream and there are a few pizza places that carry Ben and Jerry’s, so if I really want some, I can get it without shelling out for a trans-Atlantic flight.
This week I found my jaw dropping when I read that nobody believes Abraham existed as a real person. It never even occurred to me to ask such a question. I found myself thinking everybody I know “believes” in Abraham. I may have to do a poll just to be sure. Abraham is one of my great-great-…great grandfathers. Genetically a piece of me would be missing without him. Spiritually he plays an even greater role. He was a prophet, one to whom God spoke and who then gave the Message to those around him. There is an incident recounted in the Qur’an where Abraham breaks all the idols except one, then the people are wondering who did that. Abraham says maybe that big one there. That cracks me up.
Today we have a living prophet and many may be missing out on something of historical importance since almost nobody believes such a thing could happen. Before I read The Revelation of Arès, it never occurred to me that it could, so I guess on some level I do consider the prophets to be somewhat mythological, but all that is changing for me.
The more I think about it, the more I realize that when that somebody said nobody, he really was only speaking for himself.
Here is the work I finished yesterday in my watercolour class:
This is pen and ink and watercolour on a half sheet. François Hippolyte Lalaisse was commissioned by a publisher in Nantes, mid 1800’s, to depict the traditional costumes. We each chose a few and arranged them as we wished on the page.
