Over the past 6 months, I've been pondering Personal Agency & God's Great Plan Of Salvation.
I recently stumbled upon a poem that spoke to my heart and had to share it.
Lamentation
And God said, "BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY-"
Multiply, multiply - echoes multiply -
God said, "I WILL GREATLY MULTIPLY THY SORROW-"
Thy sorrow, sorrow, sorrow-
I have gotten a man from the Lord
I have traded the fruit of the garden for the fruit of my body
For a laughing bundle of humanity.
And now another one who looks like Adam.
We shall call this one "Abel."
It's a lovely name, "Abel."
Cain, Abel, the world is yours.
God set the sun in the heavens to light your days
To warm the flocks, to kernel the grain
He illuminated your nights with stars
He made the trees and the fruit thereof yielding seed
He made every living thing, the wheat, the sheep, the cattle
For your enjoyment.
And, behold, it is very good.
Adam? Adam,
Where art thou?
Where are the boys?
The sky darkens with clouds.
Adam, is that you?
Where is Abel?
He is long caring for his flocks.
The sky is black and the rain hammers.
Are the ewes lambing in this storm?
Why your troubled face, Adam?
Are you ill?
Why so pale, so agitated?
The wind will pass
The lambs will birth
With Abel's help.
Dead?
What is dead?
Merciful God!
Hurry, bring warm water
I'll bathe his wounds
Bring clean clothes
Bring herbs
I'll heal him.
I am trying to understand. You said, "Abel is dead."
But I am skilled with herbs
Remember when he was seven
The fever? Remember how-
Herbs will not heal?
Dead?
And Cain? Where is Cain?
Listen to that thunder.
Cain cursed?
What has happened to him?
God said, "A fugitive and a vagabond?"
But God can't do that.
They are my sons, too.
I gave them birth
In the valley of pain.
Adam, try to understand
In the valley of pain
I bore them
Fugitive?
Vagabond?
This is his home
This soil he loved
Where he toiled for golden wheat
For tasseled corn.
To the hill country?
There are rocks in the hill country
Cain can't work in the hill country
The nights are cold
Cold and lonely, and the wind gales.
Quick, we must find him
A basket of bread and his coat
I worry, thinking of him wandering
With no place to lay his head.
Cain cursed?
A wanderer, a roamer?
Who will bake his bread and mend his coat?
Abel, my son dead?
And Cain, my son a fugitive?
Two sons
Adam, we had two sons
Both - Oh, Adam-
Multiply
Sorrow
Dear God, Why?
Tell me again about the fruit
Why?
Please, tell me again
Why?
I recently stumbled upon a poem that spoke to my heart and had to share it.
Lamentation
And God said, "BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY-"
Multiply, multiply - echoes multiply -
God said, "I WILL GREATLY MULTIPLY THY SORROW-"
Thy sorrow, sorrow, sorrow-
I have gotten a man from the Lord
I have traded the fruit of the garden for the fruit of my body
For a laughing bundle of humanity.
And now another one who looks like Adam.
We shall call this one "Abel."
It's a lovely name, "Abel."
Cain, Abel, the world is yours.
God set the sun in the heavens to light your days
To warm the flocks, to kernel the grain
He illuminated your nights with stars
He made the trees and the fruit thereof yielding seed
He made every living thing, the wheat, the sheep, the cattle
For your enjoyment.
And, behold, it is very good.
Adam? Adam,
Where art thou?
Where are the boys?
The sky darkens with clouds.
Adam, is that you?
Where is Abel?
He is long caring for his flocks.
The sky is black and the rain hammers.
Are the ewes lambing in this storm?
Why your troubled face, Adam?
Are you ill?
Why so pale, so agitated?
The wind will pass
The lambs will birth
With Abel's help.
Dead?
What is dead?
Merciful God!
Hurry, bring warm water
I'll bathe his wounds
Bring clean clothes
Bring herbs
I'll heal him.
I am trying to understand. You said, "Abel is dead."
But I am skilled with herbs
Remember when he was seven
The fever? Remember how-
Herbs will not heal?
Dead?
And Cain? Where is Cain?
Listen to that thunder.
Cain cursed?
What has happened to him?
God said, "A fugitive and a vagabond?"
But God can't do that.
They are my sons, too.
I gave them birth
In the valley of pain.
Adam, try to understand
In the valley of pain
I bore them
Fugitive?
Vagabond?
This is his home
This soil he loved
Where he toiled for golden wheat
For tasseled corn.
To the hill country?
There are rocks in the hill country
Cain can't work in the hill country
The nights are cold
Cold and lonely, and the wind gales.
Quick, we must find him
A basket of bread and his coat
I worry, thinking of him wandering
With no place to lay his head.
Cain cursed?
A wanderer, a roamer?
Who will bake his bread and mend his coat?
Abel, my son dead?
And Cain, my son a fugitive?
Two sons
Adam, we had two sons
Both - Oh, Adam-
Multiply
Sorrow
Dear God, Why?
Tell me again about the fruit
Why?
Please, tell me again
Why?
-Arta Romney Balliff
Each of us will govern ourselves through personal agency, as we navigate our way through this mortal life. Sometimes; however, others will make choices that will impact our own lives...
Each and every decision will bring "Joy" or "Sorrow"..."Truth" or "Untruth"..."Peace" or "Turmoil."
For "there must needs be opposition in all things."
I believe that God's Great Plan Of Salvation is a Gift to all.
Mortal life lends experience that teaches and enables understanding, compassion, wisdom.
While I only see fragments of the whole big picture, each day I know that I must do my best and then allow Jesus Christ, our personal Savior, to bridge the way between us and God, the Father.
Sometimes, our journey feels painful, difficult, overwhelming, lonely, fearful and unbearable, but I'm grateful to have the chance to experience ALL things...
In order to appreciate happiness, contentment, satisfaction, fulfillment, love, joy & peace...
Even if I too must ask,
"Dear God, Why?
Tell me again about the fruit
Why?
Please, tell me again
Why?"
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