And When God Said

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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