Sunday, February 9, 2020

"MY CIRCUMCISED HEART"


MY CIRCUMCISED HEART


There was no mohel
no Bris Milah on my eighth day
no drop of blood
from my cloven heart
So, when and how it happened
cannot be pinpointed
Perhaps it occurred
when I read Moses’ face shone
after he was in the presence
of the Lord, on the mountain
or that David danced
uninhibitedly before the Ark
out of impassioned love for God
or perhaps when I heard Boaz
put his covering
over the gentile Ruth
and became her kinsman-redeemer
Oh, it might have been
when I made aliyah[1] in ’86 or ‘87
or again in 2006
each time praying
at the Wall and the Tomb
or it may have happened
upon becoming utterly awestruck
at the Little Cupula of the Tablets
while considering Messiah’s return
or possibly it was the night we sang
every carol we knew
in the shepherd field of Bethlehem
It could even have been
when I drank water from
the ancient Jacob's Well
or the morning I experienced sunrise
over the Dead Sea
dreaming of the Great Day
when fish will thrive
and vegetation bloom, miraculously
in its healed waters
It may well have been
the sight and smell of the land
as I walked in the footsteps
of my Jewish Savior
or when my heart
caught fire while reading
the melodious Psalms
or Solomon's Song of Songs
or as I poured over the account
of Peter's prison praise
Actually it probably was when
I received blessed assurance
that I am eternally saved
by the precious Blood of the Lamb…

All I know is
some way, somehow
something happened
to spiritually circumcise
this gentile heart
making it echad[2]
with the Heart of the God
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
and I haven’t for a single moment
been the same
since—

Maude Carolan Pych
(Formerly “The Circumcised Heart”)



[1] Aliyah means ascent in Hebrew.
[2] Echad means one in Hebrew.


Lent is Coming...
My book has many poetic meditations
on the Crucifixion & Resurrection of Jesus.

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