Upon The Death Of My Dog
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A few years ago, I had a diseased tree in front of my house taken down. When it fell, it left two shallow holes in my lawn. I ignored these holes for a long time, but eventually got tired of tripping in them while cutting the grass, etc. I didn’t have any top soil handy, so I filled the holes with compost from a bin, and then spread some grass seed over the top. Well, the grass didn’t take, but within a week a sprout emerged from each of the two spots. I nearly pulled them out, but out of curiosity decided to let them grow. Now, about a month later, there are two healthy plants, with large yellow blossoms and leaves bigger than my hands, sprawling across nearly a third of the length of the lawn. (I suspect they might be pumpkins.) For a moment I wondered why the seeds in the compost hadn’t begun to grow in the bin, but of course the answer is obvious. There is no sunlight inside the bin. Even in an environment that is materially rich with water, nutrients, etc., life cannot be without the warm kiss of the sun’s rays. It further occurred to me that, just as material things cannot have life without the light of the sun, so too is the soul doomed to wither and die in the absence of the light of truth.
After spending four years living in Japan, Mr. Cibenko spent fifteen years as a Catholic high school educator (Theology, German, Japanese). His essays have appeared in The New Oxford Review, and his first book, Masaru, a historical novel based on the early Church in Japan, is available through Arx Publishing (see link below), Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other major book retailers.
