A Message from Fever

John Updike

I have brought back a good message from the land of 102 degrees:

God exists.

I had seriously doubted it before;
but the bedposts spoke of it with utmost confidence,
the threads in my blanket took it for granted,
the tree outside the window dismissed all complaints,
and I have not slept so justly for years.

It is hard, now, to convey
how emblematically appearances sat
upon the membranes of my consciousness;
but it is truth long known
that some secrets are hidden from health.

Fever

From Collected Poems 1953-1993

[This poem made me think of those now suffering in hospitals. For Day Book readers who don’t like poetry (and you know who you are), with apologies to the Mr. Updike, I created a prose version.]

I have been very sick, but now I am bringing back a good message from the land of 102 degrees:

God exists.  

I had seriously doubted it before but everything told me this truth. The bedposts reminded me with great confidence; the threads in my blanket took it for granted and the tree outside the window dismissed all doubts. After getting this message, I slept better than I have for years.

Now that I’m better I find it hard to convey how all these things - bed, blanket, tree -became symbols for me of the truth of God. But it is a truth long known that some secrets are hidden from health - and that God is well expressed even in illness.