Monday, October 9, 2023

Face-to-face - October 9, 2023

“Seeing your face is like seeing the face of God.” 
So said Jacob in his brief reunion with his brother Esau. 
He had, it seems, just seen God, in some form, “face-to-face” 
In a biblical wrestling match that ended in an appropriate draw. 
Moses was described at the end of Deuteronomy as a prophet
Unlike any other 
Because “God knew him/singled him out “face-to-face,”
Another way of saying that God knew him well, or intimately. 
The Soul of the Universe was 
Inextricably connected to
The soul of a prophet
But not only to Moses. 
Some say we all exist within that Soul.
Some say, as Jacob did, that we can, if we try,
See a touch of that Soul in each soul. 
Some refuse to do that even when their faith
Teaches them to follow the example of Jacob or Moses. 
Seething, simmering hatred 
Encouraged by people seeking to expand 
their power and control
Spreads like a wildfire
And causes others to forget 
That there is a touch of that Sacred Soul 
In everyone. 
That is when violence and murder 
Become too easy an option
And the cost and the fallout 
Emotional and communal 
Is devastating. 
There are souls now seeking freedom, 
Having been cruelly and suddenly seized 
From their homes and families. 
There are souls seeking freedom 
That might be attainable 
Only when they see the humanity 
In friend and in foe. 
There is too much blindness to cooperation 
And a sense of commonality 
That precludes that freedom and the peace that would ensue. 
There is, however, still the possibility for 
The opening of eyes and hearts and minds 
So that we will see one another 
Face-to-face
As souls
In the care 
of the Eternal Soul 
That never gives up hope.

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