The Circumcised Heart

Photo Credit: www.ideachampions.com

THE CIRCUMCISED HEART

There was no mohel

no Bris Milah on my eighth day

no drop of blood

from my cloven heart

So, when and how it happened

cannot be pinpointed

Perhaps it occurred

when I read Moses’ face shone

after he was in the presence

of the Lord, on the mountain

or that David danced

uninhibitedly before the Ark

out of impassioned love for God

or perhaps when I heard Boaz

put his covering

over the gentile Ruth

and became her kinsman redeemer

Oh, it might have been

when I made aliyah in ’86 or ‘87

or again in 2006

each time praying                                  

at the Wall and the Tomb

or it may have happened

upon becoming utterly awestruck

at the Little Cupula of the Tablets

or possibly the night we sang

every carol we knew

in the shepherd field of Bethlehem

It could even have been

when I drank water from

the ancient Jacob's Well

or experienced sunrise over the Dead Sea

dreaming of the Great Day

when fish will thrive

and vegetation bloom, miraculously

in its healed waters

It may well have been

the sight and smell of the land

as I walked in the footsteps

of my Jewish Savior

or when my heart

caught fire while reading

the melodious Psalms

or Solomon's Song of Songs

or as I poured over the account

of Peter's prison praise

Actually it probably was when

I received blessed assurance

that I am eternally saved

by the Blood of the Lamb…

All I know is

some way, somehow

something happened

to spiritually circumcise

this gentile heart

making it echad^[1]

with the Heart of the God

of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

and I haven’t for a moment

been the same

since—

Hallelujah!

Maude Carolan Pych

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[1] one

An earlier version of this poem was published in my first chapbook (no longer available for purchase), "The Circumcised Heart".