We lamented in Ramah,
with bitter weeping for our CHILDREN.
HOW LONG?
We refuse to be comforted
because THEY still are not.
HOW LONG?
We refrain our voice and weep tearless eyes.
Has OUR reward been forgot?
HOW LONG?
We brought these KIDS from the land of the enemy
to a promise. Milk & Honey.
HOW LONG?
The land of the FREE
enslaves our CHILDREN’S CHILDREN’S, CHILDREN’S dreams.
HOW LONG?
We so wanted THEM to taste
The Bread of life’s Manna.
HOW LONG?
How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD?
for ever?
how long wilt thou hide thy face from
me?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my
heart daily?
how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me? Psalm 13:1-2 (KJV)
Is there any faith, hope and love left to give THEM?
HOW LONG?
Shall
ANY of our CHILDREN be left
to
EVER reach Your border?
HOW LONG?
WE’RE TIRED OF ‘SANGING
THEM SAME ‘OLE SAD SONGS;
Another
one bites the dust...
and another one of “US” (POW) gone.
HOW LONG
and how many more
REQUIRED to reach heaven’s shores
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
with heavy shoes on.
But…with every good-bye;
still hope lies
on a promise. We trust.
A Voice Heard in Ramah -- Salvador Dalí
Ramah ("height") is probably modern Er-Ram, about 8 km north of Jerusalem. It was the home of Elqānāh ("El has purchased") and Hannah. Every year they went to the Shiloh sanctuary (modern Khirbet Seilun), the major Jewish worship center before the first Temple was built in Jerusalem, to pray for a child. After Hannah vowed to give the son back to God in order to serve him, she gave birth to Samuel, the last of the judges who led the Jews before they established a monarchy. Centuries later, in 587 BCE, Nabû-kudurri-uṣur (Nebuchadnezzar II) destroyed Jerusalem and transported its inhabitants to Babylon' Babylon; the captives were first assembled in Rameh as a staging area for their transfer east. The prophet Jeremiah compared their cries to "Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more." (Rachel was the wife of Ya'aqov ("Jacob," later named Yisra'el [Israel], who was also barren until old age, telling her husband "Give me children, or else I die!").
ReplyDeleteOn 25 March 1965, after the Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, March for voting rights, Martin Luther King, Jr., gave a rousing speech that included this passage (along with shouts from his audience):
ReplyDeleteSomebody's asking, "How long will prejudice blind the visions of men, darken their understanding, and drive bright-eyed wisdom from her sacred throne?" Somebody's asking, "When will wounded justice, lying prostrate on the streets of Selma and Birmingham and communities all over the South, be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men?" Somebody's asking, "When will the radiant star of hope be plunged against the nocturnal bosom of this lonely night, (Speak, speak, speak) plucked from weary souls with chains of fear and the manacles of death? How long will justice be crucified, (Speak) and truth bear it?" (Yes, sir) I come to say to you this afternoon, however difficult the moment, (Yes, sir) however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, (No sir) because "truth crushed to earth will rise again." (Yes, sir) How long? Not long, (Yes, sir) because "no lie can live forever." (Yes, sir) How long? Not long, (All right. How long) because "you shall reap what you sow." (Yes, sir)... How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.