Blessings upon Babylon

Haiku of reality

This is long-term, folks;

time for humiliation,

time for reflection.

They were in exile

in Babylon. The prophet

wrote them a letter.

It brought muted hope.

Make the most of it, he said.

You'll be there a while.

Work hard, build houses

to live in. And plant gardens;

eat what they produce.

Marry, have children,

give your daughters in marriage,

take wives for your sons.

Prosper and do well,

seek the city's welfare, pray

for them, your captors.

Bless your enemies.

your well-being stems from theirs;

thus God blesses you.

© Ken Rookes 2022 

strangers in a strange land

"The real exile of Christians in the First World is that we have learned to endure it. We do not consider our living in the affluent societies as being in captivity. We rather have adjusted ourselves so much to Egypt that we feel at home. We have adjusted ourselves the Egyptian lifestyle. We have adopted the basic beliefs of the Egyptians. We see individualism as the measure of human development, and we share assumptions of history's caprice - sometimes this group on top, sometimes another group. We have learned to endure the exile so well that we no longer see ourselves as exiled people - as strangers in a strange land ... To learn to endure the exile is to suppress even our thirst for justice."
Dorothy Soelle. 'Thou shalt have no other Jeans before me' 

In exile

 

In exile,
the forcibly dispossessed people of Yahweh
receive a letter from afar.
The mad and lonely prophet instructs them to stop resisting,
to make peace with their conquerors.
Reluctant dwellers in an alien city,
they have expended many tears for Jerusalem,
and the God who dwelt in its temple.

The holy city they called home, lies ruined;
they are cut off, abandoned.
Now, the prophet tells them,
in his long-distance epistle,
their separation from those ancient stones
must not lead to despair.
They are to trust impossibly
that the strange purposes of their apparently absent God
will yet be revealed.

“Become dual citizens,”
the treasonous words of the missive urge.
“Make yourself neighbours to your enemies,
and seek their well-being;
along with that of their heathen city.
Accept offers of friendship;
build, plant, take jobs, establish businesses
and call this place home.
Fall in love, take wives, beget children
and look to the time
when you can take pleasure in your grandchildren;
you will be here for some time yet.
But it will be all right.

“Don’t forget, covenant people of God,
to pray for your adopted city,
and its people.
In this way your enemies will become your friends
and you will all benefit.
Yes, and it will be all right.”

© Ken Rookes 2013

In exile

In exile, the forcibly dispossessed

people of Yahweh receive a letter

from the mad and lonely prophet

who instructs them to stop resisting

and to make peace with their conquerors.

Reluctant dwellers in a foreign city,

they weep for Jerusalem, and the God

who, they assume, has abandoned them.

The holy city lies in ruin

but their distance from those ancient stones

must not lead to despair; they are to trust

that the strange purposes of their apparently

absent God will yet be revealed.

“Become dual citizens,”

the treasonous words of the missive urge.

“Make yourself neighbours to your enemies

and seek their well being, along with that

of their heathen city.

Accept the offers of friendship

build, plant, take jobs, establish businesses

and call this place home.

Take wives, beget children

and look to the time when you can

take pleasure in your grandchildren:

you will be here for some time yet.

But it will be all right.

“Don’t forget, covenant people of God,

to pray for your adopted city and its people.

In this way your enemies will become

your friends and you will all benefit.

Yes, and it will be all right.”

© Ken Rookes 2010