Apocrypha means hidden things. The official Apocrypha in my NRSV is stuck between the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament. Last night I dreamed there were hidden stories in the New Testament that everyone else had read, and somehow I had missed them. This is akin to all those dreams preachers have of standing in the pulpit having forgotten to prepare a sermon, or the student dreams of forgetting to study for an exam. In my dream I faked it. Somehow I wasn*t worried, just curious. Curious enough to look up the name once I awakened.
Last night I dreamed
I went to a Bible study.
There were questions
About a story contained in a book
I had never heard of,
Much less read.
It seems there were other books
Buried in the New Testament.
Everyone else
Had read them.
I could only nod
And pretend.
It was so real
I looked up the name of the book
When I awoke.
Zin-bul.
Turns out it is on the list of family names
Of those who died
In the Shoah.
Is there an Apocrypha buried
In the New Testament?
Stories and stories and stories
Hidden,
More than we might ever know?
Could we ever bring them up
In Bible study?
Last night I also dreamed I sold scarves
In a booth
On the furthest edge of a fair,
Next to my favorite falafel shop.
I had one customer.
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