Wise and Innocent

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes." Matthew 10:16-23

Wise and Innocent

I have known the lashes
the searing pain of hatred
human anger, abuse and shame
but they do not come from God.

I have gone towards home
finding rejection and deceit
hung my head in sorrow as
I headed out the door
knowing I am not alone.

The fashions and winds change
the seasons blossom and fail
the ground can shake and walls
tumble and fall
and God walks with us still.

Judgement and jealousy sick hearts
aching for solace and healing
can strike out in pain
can lash and curse and cry
and God still holds them
in strong arms of love.

We are human and frail
broken by our foolish desires
ravaged by years and neglect
we torture one another
hiding our own pain
and we ache for a creative solution
another home.

God's desire for us lingers
long after we have turned away
long after tears and screaming
long after we have tried it all
God comes with comfort and freedom
to remake us in love.