Whispers of Mystery

Whispers of Mystery
Unknown source. Please e-mail me if you know the artist.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

The Flaming Sword and the Fruit of Life

“So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden
He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword
which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life”
(Gen 3:24)


“We have sinned,” say the blind,
“so we must wait for the Afterlife
or the Second Coming
to come to the Tree of Life

and eat of its heavenly fruit.”

“Yes, sirs,"
nod the blind following the blind,
"May the Lord have mercy on us
while we wait to eat the Fruit of Life.”

And, together,
the blind and the blind following the blind
pray for mercy and patience,
while they wait to eat the Fruit of Life.
And, together, they fall into a pit
because they have not eaten the Fruit of Life.

“The Fruit of Life is good,”
say the Israelite spies.
“But we must not take it.
Those guarding it are big and strong,
and they will certainly devour us.”

“Yes, sirs,"
nod the blind following the blind,
"May the Lord have mercy on us,
as we wait for a safe moment to take the fruit,
so that one day, in the future,
we may eat the Fruit of Life.”

And, together,
the blind and the blind following the blind
wait and wait and wait
for a safe moment
when the Tree of Life
is free of the flaming sword.
And, together, they fall into a pit
because they have not eaten the Fruit of Life.

But Joshua and Caleb
see the guards before the Tree of Life
and they say,
“If the Lord is pleased with us,
He will conquer it for us.
The Lord is with us.
Do not be afraid.”

And the blind do not listen to those with faith.
But the Lord gives those with faith
a chance to face the flaming sword.
And He is faithful with the faithful
and they conquer the flaming sword
and they eat the Fruit of Life.

Then a Messiah comes
and faces the Cross of the flaming sword
and says, “I am the Vine
and you are the branches.
Abide in Me
and the Fruit of Life is yours.”

But before the fruit is eaten,
the kingdom of heaven suffers violence,
and many are surprised by the fiery trial they suffer,
the cross they face,
and the flaming sword guarding the way
to the Fruit of Life

May we press on
and run the race to the Tree of Life
with endurance.
For it is impossible
for those who have eaten the Fruit of Life,
who have tasted this heavenly gift,
this goodness of the coming age,
who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
to lose the Life they have tasted.

May we have courage
to face the flaming sword
and trust in the One who has led the way
to our victory.
Amen.

(c) 2010 by karina.  All rights reserved.  Please use with permission from the author.

1 comment:

  1. This is fantastic! What a vision, we must face the flaming sword and the cross of the flaming sword to eat of the Fruit of Life!!

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