"The Soul Selects Her Own Society" ---Emily Dickinson

By Sherman Alexie

On iTunes, I read the "Nothing Selected" icon
as "Nothing Sacred" and I immediately disagree.

"But music is sacred," I say aloud, arguing
with my damn computer. Then I realize my error

And laugh thinking that entire religions
have been created because of misprints, mis-

Takes, and misappropriated blame. Take Jesus,
for instance. He never said, "It's better to give

Than to receive." Paul said that Jesus said it.
But a reasonable judge would throw out Paul's testimony

As hearsay, which is cousin to heresy. And I
imagine that plenty of folks would consider me heretical

For questioning the veracity of Paul, but
really, don't you think that Paul, in a moment

Of self-doubt, when he thought that he was
losing authority, might have misattributed a quote to Jesus?

If the Son of God was my running buddy,
I'd possibly begin every anecdote, psalm, and dirty joke

With "And then Jesus told me..."
adds that extra juice, you know?

In my poems, I have given quotes
to my wife for dramatic purposes, and her response

Is always, "I never said that," followed by laughter
Or a sigh, depending on her mood. People believe

What I say; people listen to me. My wife loves me,
but she doesn't believe me. The only commandment

I have to deliver is: Writers should not
marry their believers. But that's all tangential. What I want

To say is this: The world was not sacred in
its creation. And it's only sacred in parts. Take, for instance,

A song like PJ Harvey's "To Bring You My Love,"
a blues dirge, which is playing now on my iPod.

It's a gorgeous song, filled with love and lust.
I think it is sacred. But I have to think that

Because I selected it. And if it isn't sacred--
if you download it and think it's only a rock song--

Then I am guilty of bad taste and worse theology
And will become yet another unreliable narrator.

Does the world need one more unreliable narrator?
Well, Jesus told me that faith and doubt are twins.

Do you understand that paradox?
Can you live with it? Can you believe in a messiah who preaches in oxymorons?