Millstones and Mustard Seeds

And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. Luke 17:1-6


Millstones and Mustard Seeds

Alone on the stoop a warm night
remembering all the winter days
cold shoulders that would not forgive
the weight of the world increases.

A heart so burdened with guilt
cannot free itself without help
we have tied on this burden and shame
let us now unbind our faith.

We rebuked the little ones
for being born the wrong race
forced them to cast off their language
and told them their ceremonies were evil.

Now the young ones take their lives
and find the future hopeless
we have not ask forgiveness for this
and we tie on more weight day by day.

Our faith could free us by love
we could plant arbors and havens
we could make safe places again
and weave stronger hearts.

We have drowned the little ones
our sin and greed has been their burden
our shame we put on their backs
and the children are not free.

Make the sacred circle whole
the child of God cries in the night
the little ones who need a sign
are waiting in the shadows now.