GENESIS 17 - THE BELOVED AND I Cont'd

Genesis 17

1 When Abram was aged ninety-nine,

YHWH came to Abram and said fine,

"I'm El Shadai, Almighty God,

Walk by Me blameless on the sod.

2 "And I will make My covenant

Between Me and you, which is meant

I'll multiply you most greatly."

3 Then Abram fell on his face, see,

And Ælohim talked with him, saying

4 "As for Me, indeed, while you're praying,

My covenant's with you, and you

Shall be the ancestor in view

Of many nations. 5 "No more shall

Your name be Abram, so banal,

But Abraham, for I have made

You father of a grand parade.

6 "Fruitful indeed I shall make you,

And father of the nations, too."



Of all the kings that came from Abraham,

Some have been good, and as sure as I am

Of that, some have been wicked too. No sure

Thing comes from our biology. The pure

And fated both proceed and unabated.

The good lad and the kind, once he's instated

May just as well turn out an Ahab or

A Solomon. Importance lies not in

The pedigree but if the lad will sin.

The covenant with Abraham, though true

And bright will never guarantee that You

Accept the progeny. The fruitful nation,

Product of grief or joyful jubilation,

May side with either heavenly queen or whore.



7 "And I'll affirm My pact with you

And your descendants after you

Through all their generations, I

Shall be your God and also I

Shall be their God. 8 "Also I give

To you and your seed place to live,

The land where you have been a stranger

And all of Canaan for your own,

Forever where you've been a ranger,

And I shall be their God alone."

9 And Ælohim still spoke and said

To Abraham, "As for your thread,

You shall keep covenant with Me,

You and your seed eternally.

10 "This is My pact which you shall keep,

Between Me, you and your descendants

After you: all the males that peep,

Each child among you and dependants

Shall be one circumcised, 11 "and you

Shall be cut in your foreskins' flesh,

A sign of covenant with you.

12 "He who is eight days old and fresh

Among you shall be circumcised,

Each male child that you've realized,

Born in your house or bought with money,

From foreigner not patrimony.

13 "He who is born in your house and

He who's bought with your money stand

Both to be circumcised, and My

Pact in your flesh continues by.

14 "And the uncircumcised male child,

Whose foreskin's left to flesh gone wild,

That person shall be cut off from

His folk, pact broken, heathendom."



Well and indeed. To cut a pinch of skin

As symbol of the hopeful lack of sin,

Disarming strange advice and even worse,

Seems to neglect the daughter as a curse,

Unless the cutting of the son's a plague.

The whole thing strikes me now as somewhat vague.

Does anything in Decalogue require

Such action, does it anywhere inspire

The soul, devout, to private circumcision?

I do not doubt the devout, wise decision.

The sacrifice, if sacrifice it be,

Seems much too small to take it seriously.

I add to it, Beloved, myself and all,

Body and soul and hear, calf in the stall.



15 Ælohim spoke once more and said

To Abraham, "As for Sarai

Your wife, call her Sarah instead.

16 "And I will bless her, also I

Shall give you a son by her, then

I shall bless her, and among men

Nations and kings from her shall spread."



The way that Sarai acted from the first,

If I were You I would count her the worst,

And let another woman take the fame,

And let another lady earn her name.

If grace is Your heart's will, than Sarai shows

That grace is all Your great heart ever knows.

I would have long since sent the woman packing,

With machinations and complaint nerve-wracking.

That You still promise her a son is greater

As miracle than age was when to mate her.

If You bless Sarai, that is news indeed

To joy the heart of everyone in need.

If You keep promises to awful Sarai,

Then everyone has hope and can say "Dare I."



17 Then Abraham fell on his face

And laughed inside, and said in case,

"Shall I have children at my age?

And Sarah at ninety engage

To give birth?" 18 Abraham said to

Ælohim, "Let live before You

Ishmael!" 19 Then Ælohim replied

"Sarah your wife shall sure abide

And bear a son, and Isaac shall

Be his name before one and all,

And I will make My pact with him

For always and through bright and dim,

And with his seed come after him.

20 "And as for Ishmael, I have heard.

Indeed, I bless him by My word.

I make him fruitful, multiplied,

A mighty nation to abide,

Twelve princes shall his children be,

A nation mighty, great, and free.

21 "And with Isaac I'll make my pact,

Whom Sarah will bear in the act,

Within the year and faithfully."



I thank You, my Beloved, You heard the prayer

Of Abraham, who loves the son who's there.

Beyond his prayer You also bless the son

Who will appear before the day is done.

The human view is that a choice is made

Between the two, one only makes the grade.

The other must be left without a hope.

It's always so with cardinal and pope.

Divine view is that both sons are unique

And both receive the blessings that they seek.

Let me not stray where choices are in vain,

Let me not suffer artificial pain.

Give me the blessing of my prayer today,

And unexpected ones along the way.



With every fifty feet it seems the wealth

Of Arab culture scintillates in stealth,

And changes with kaleidoscopic speed

Across the jewelled mountains to take heed

To Beduin boys following their flocks.

The crystal patchwork turns to barren rocks.

I miss the variegated dress and frills,

Embroidered coins shining upon the hills,

I miss the handwork and the tinctured loom,

The thousand things that have since met their doom.

I would deprive the harassed Jew of no

Homeland nor place of refuge where to go,

But sicken at the loss of all things fair

That disappeared from Palestine in air.



22 Then He finished talking with him,

And Ælohim went up from him.

23 So Abraham took Ishmael and

Not just his son, but all who stand

Born in his house and all males bought

With money, all males to be sought

In Abraham's household and cut

The flesh of their foreskins for what

Ælohim said that day. 24 The age

Of Abraham was ninety-nine

When circumcised by God's design

In flesh of foreskin for a gauge.

25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen

When he was circumcised come clean.

26 That very same day Abraham

Was circumcised, and in one slam

Also Ishmael his son, 27 and all

The men of his household, both small

And great, born in his house or bought

From strangers at cost, not begot,

All these were circumcised from first

To last with him, both best and worst.



So still today the Muslim way to do

The circumcision is to wait a few

Years and perform the operation on

Each lad before his childhood is quite gone,

Like Ishmael rather than like Abraham

Or Isaac who was an eight-day-old lamb.

The law says follow Isaac, so the Jew

Is right, though Muslim statutes say so too.

I guess the Christian teller takes the cake.

He waits like Abraham for age to make

Him ripe for circumcision and when he

Approaches one hundred he will make free

To stand before the knife. It's never late

To obey You, Beloved, at any rate.