This started out as a series of notes that for a church service on which I was working; almost unbeknownst to me, it became a poem...
And when God said,
“I the Lord your God am a jealous God,
punishing children for the iniquity
of parents,
to the third and fourth generation
of those who reject me*”,
it was not a curse, but a natural law
for the tendrils of our ancestors’ evil weave their threads
into our lives.
We call it corporate evil
systemic sin
damage done by our families
And we feel it, carry the burden of it, writhe under it.
And often - so often - too often
We don’t even recognize it,
don’t see it when
it stands before us
sits beside us
looks back in the
mirror with our own eyes.
But when that veil of ignorance slips a little
When even one part of this ancestral burden takes form in
our vision
Suddenly we have a
C H O I C E
Grant
this thread leave to continue its poisonous path through the tapestry of our
lives,
and
be a conduit for the ancestors’ evil into the lives of others
|
OR
|
Recognize this
thread, rough among the silks, already woven into our lives;
accept its
presence, and deny its power, as we
weave a new thread
of beauty and healing around it
|
And when God said,
“I the Lord your God
will show steadfast love to the thousandth generation
of
those who love me,”
it was not a promise
but a natural law
for the tendrils of our
love will weave their threads into the lives of those
who come after.
*Deuteronomy 5:9
