Why?

(A poetic reflection on Genesis 3)

Ev’ry once in a while, O Lord –

(that “once in a while” being those moments
[I confess, too many moments!]
when I behold, in my thoughts and feelings
and in my intentions and actions, the worst of my self
and
when, as I perceive it, the manner of human behavior,
whate’er the field of endeavor [none, not one beyond violation],
all too damnably frequently,
crosses, whether above or below, high or low, to or fro,
verily, demolishes
that sacred fault-line of the quality of virtue)

I ponder what remains for me
this mystery of our…of all beginning…

About that garden, O Lord,
Edenic in its beatific
wonder,
yet with temptation, at least, one in number
and a serpent with legs and speech
whose only purpose was the employ of cunning –
once applied, succeeding –
the divine-human bond to breach,
thus, keeping
our covenant with You beyond our reach…

‘til You, from the cross, in anguished dying, to us out-reached.

Yes, O Lord, I see, I think, the teleological logic of this…Your…our story.
Yet as it, from the beginning, harbored great suffering
and alway, Golgotha notwithstanding, foretells great suffering still,
ev’ry once in a while, by and by, I ask: Why?