BELIEVING IN ENOUGH

“There is not enough”, he shouted,

His voice echoing against the sacred stones

that had once housed his God,

and which were to be made a welcome place, once again.

“The oil is not enough .  It will last but one night”

He poured it into vessels of clay, careful not to spill a drop.

“It burns well enough now, but what of tomorrow?”

He spat in frustration and anger – embarrassment, too, perhaps.

He had hoped for there to be so much more.

And the flames sputtered and flickered throughout that night

and into the next, and the one beyond that,

until the shadows of eight nights had been vanquished,

along with his doubt.

(Rev. Stefanie Etzbach-Dale – Chanukah, December 1, 2010)