time to grow up, America
I hope our country can grow up.
in a child’s development
the parent, early on, can have mythic power:
the mother who never turns away
and will hold us tightly in her arms,
the father who stands as a bulwark
against anything scary,
the one who keeps us safe,
then we grow up,
parents can become smaller, frailer, limited,
maybe even more impressive in how well each can do
given the constraints reality imposes,
today in our country I hear the child in many
demand a father to protect us,
an Old Testament Jehovah,
angry and strong and violent,
many deny the New Testament
which hopes for us to grow up
and fully live in a world of grays,
with exceptions to the rigidity of Mosaic Law,
the charge to let our hearts live as much in love as they can,
the hope for us that we will resist giving in to fear and violence
as much as that way can be denied.
by Henry H. Walker
December 14, ’15
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