There was an old woman
who was greedy and cold
She was mean and she was spiteful
with eyes full of scorn.
And she lived by herself,
for herself, in her mind.
And she hated the world
for its dirt and its grime;
And she hated the world
for its dirt and its grime.
One day a beggar
came hungry and poor
and she beat him and bruised him;
she hollered and swore.
Yet as he turned slowly
from the house to the road,
she threw him an onion
and quick! slammed the door;
she threw him an onion
and quick! slammed the door.
Now the woman grew older
and one day she died,
as she sunk down to hades
an archangel cried,
"Grab hold of this onion
I have in my hand!
It will lift you to heaven
for Christ was that man;
it will lift you to heaven
for Christ was that man."
So children, listen closely,
our tale is now told,
love's not just a feeling
a warmth in our soul.
But love is an onion
that grows in the dirt,
its roots deep in heaven,
its roots deep in earth;
its roots deep in heaven,
its roots deep in earth.
This is a song I wrote based on a story that was based on a fable found in The Brother's Karamazov which might have been borrowed from an even older tale. Below is a link to the Karamazov excerpt. It has a different emphasis but is brilliant. It's good to reclaim the art of storytelling. Part of me is afraid of fables--what if people think that an onion is the path to salvation?--but this is fairly ridiculous. Jesus loved telling parables that gave glimpses of the truth, while not explicitly addressing every theological implication. On the other side, you have people who scorn fables because they do not reflect "real life." But sometimes I think we need stories with obvious morals in order to reflect what real life really is when our lives feel a bit muddled. So many stories now are about muddled people who are wandering through the muddled world. I suppose we need all kinds!
