You Are the Vessel

He showed you the vineyard

And spoke in ancient Hebrew.

Translated, 

He said, 

"The vines--ancient and rooted--form a fabric mesh."

You stood among the tangled vines, 

And He showed you a vision

Where modern men toiled in place,

And they watered the vines.  

Who were these working men? 

Were they the ones who toiled and labored 

To carry the enormous engraved ceramic jugs? 

These jugs were filled with the waters 

That sprung from their hearts. 

These were the same men who 

Poured their poisoned waters 

There upon the fields, 

And the fields swallowed their hatred and lust 

As if it were water.

The vineyard is no metaphor.  

It is the entire world, 

And the men, those alive and those dead, attend its needs

As they've always done, 

Each in his own way.

This vineyard is where the wars began 

When man fell from God 

And traded fertile soil for dust. 

Dust to dust

Amid the ash

The men in suits 

Earned their cash 

In dust to dust.

Because of them,

We learned to swallow dirt and blood.

God spoke to you 

And told you 

That the vineyard, 

Once a good place, 

Became wicked and evil.  

He explained that the men 

With their wickedness watered the vines, 

poisoning the soil. 

Adam, made from dust, 

Took the first bunch of grapes 

And carried them to you.  

“You are a vessel,” he said.  

“You will carry these grapes for two years.”

You did not want to be a vessel, 

Nor did you want to carry those grapes, 

For they consisted of shiny clusters of puss-filled boils, 

Some bursting open with hatred and lust.

 

These 

Men

--

The soldiers, 

The lawyers, 

The husbands, 

And more

--

They tilled the land 

And fought over the grapes.

The men battled, 

Committed atrocities and lewd acts,

And stole the fruits--sour, bitter-poisoned grapes.

You did not want to carry the grapes
Or let them be a part of yourself,
But the Lord God said,
“You must.  


"This is the wine that will be served at my cedar table,
But only if you are my vessel and instrument.”


He said,
"You will bring the wine to me."