Poem February 19, 1996 Issue

Two views—one true

Lucile Jury Kennedy

You are not defined by chemistry, my friend,
by DNA and the atomic dust of today, or dust of Eden,
of what begins now, or in mystic lore, and changes
and must end.
You are not Adam's dream, come up from mist and sod,
to linger, and malinger, and be exiled as Cain,
who killed the innocent, and dwelt in Nod,
and in his progeny lives on to kill, accursed
upon the earth, far from the face of God.

You are, instead, a shining image of the One,
as Christ revealed, held ever true, alive in Him,
given dominion over all the earth;
made not of it, but in spiritual birth,
you are like the original Spirit, the creative Life,
and so, you are like sunbeam to the sun.