Chosen People

I think I can read God’s mind

and know what He thought 

about his people in the desert:

“What’s WRONG with them?”

They had a heritage (enviable,

an actual promise from God!)

that they didn’t care to uphold. 

They had so much, and yet,

it was not enough.

They turned away, and

He drowned them in a flood,

sent them to Egypt as captive labor.

He led them out and fed them in the desert—

and they built a golden calf to spite Him.

 

What’s WRONG with us?

America: the light of the world?

hope burning bright in the harbor?

the golden door, promising

work and reward and peace and safety?

It’s not enough that we have so much—

we need to hoard it,

to hide in our storehouses,

to count our wealth,

to shut others out,

to be the greatest.

Let me tell you a secret:

We can’t be great while others starve.

We can’t be great while others drown

in pursuit of freedom.

We can’t be great on the backs of others

if we are ever to have peace,

if we are ever to achieve greatness.

God knew that then. He knows it now.