What I need to hear
and what God wants to say
share a common gateway,
called the Bible.
But are the words
of ancient prophets reliable?
Can the exodus
of Moses and Israel
really be undeniable?
And hasn’t time
faded the poets’ intended
sing-song rhyme?
Are the original manuscripts inerrant?
Or is the Bible only inspired
when the Holy Spirit shows up?
Can it keep up
when I go Mach 10
with a battle cry that will not bend
through the gates of hell?
Is there a GPS tracking system
in my head just waiting for me to rebel?
Does Scripture—
the Rosetta Stone
of what sinners’ call “fire and brimstone”—
employ fear tactics of emotional control?
Or will it turn to stone
like the head of the Gorgon Medusa
with one look at the leaky pipes,
running Christ’s “living water” to my soul?
Or will it explode,
looking down the barrel of fear—
a paralyzing projectile of spiritual warfare—
with no time to adhere
the sound on the ground,
“fire in the hole”?
For now,
a literary comparison will suffice:
Luke’s historical account
of the life and death of the Christ
is no more false
than the twelve Herculean tasks true.
But what of the “impossible task”
of the Prince of Egypt
and his ragtag Hebrews?
For now,
a thoughtful game
of “would you rather” will suffice:
Would you rather live in a world
that weaponizes the splitting of the atom
or believe in the miracle of Moses
splitting the Red Sea
to rescue from the bondage of slavery
the children of Adam?