Inspired by the Arabic rendering of Luke 8:27 in the Kitaab Al-Hayaa translation and by Genesis 1:1-3.
When Jesus had stepped out on land,
There met him a man.
—Luke 8:27 ESV
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
—Genesis 3:8 ESV
The pious don’t belong in a celestial paradise
But are prone to be prone,
Hovering over the sloppy sea
In close proximity—
Like God in the beginning.
For Eden is no Elysium.
The garden was grounded,
As was Elohim—
The Cradle of all that is good,
The Beneficent,
Our Mainland:
The Solid Rock
Who stays our storms
And walks with us in this wasteland.
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November 8, 2020