First Things RSS Feed - Jack Butler https://www.firstthings.com/author/jack-butler en-us Copyright 2025 First Things. All Rights Reserved. ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) Mon, 20 Jan 2025 16:51:22 -0500 https://d2201k5v4hmrsv.cloudfront.net/img/favicon-196.png First Things RSS Feed Image https://www.firstthings.com/rss/author/jack-butler 60 The Metaphysics of Success https://www.firstthings.com/article/2010/01/the-metaphysics-of-success https://www.firstthings.com/article/2010/01/the-metaphysics-of-success Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0500 Supposing God to be exactly that
which happens anyway, however tall
you build your house, your bank account, career:
Your prose was lean and deadly, but you got fat;
the market tanked, and so you lost it all;
the water battered brick from brick in sheer
exhilaration, unfettered, free, and total”
supposing so, what difference does it make
you went to church, you prayed, you did your best?
t takes forever to become immortal.
For those who aren’t”you’ll fail and fall and break.
How does it feel to be a walking ghost,
a temporal fragment in eternity?
And why am I saying you , when I mean me?

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