The Circumcised Heart

Image credit: endofthematter.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[1] 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[2]

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] Aliyah means ascent in Hebrew.

[2] Echad means one in Hebrew.

Today is Our 12th Anniversary...

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Bob & Maude Pych
Celebrating our 12th anniversary
at Calandra's Cucina, Fairfield, NJ.

Here's the poem I read at our wedding ceremony in 2006:

DODI LI

For Robert Pych on Our Wedding Day, October 21, 2006

"I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine."

Song of Songs 6:3

Shirley says

my heart is a thimble

and God's love is the ocean

and He wants to pour all that love

into my little heart

I have learned that the Lord

has made my heart

a little like His own

that the heart is limitless

in its capacity to love

that it may seem

the heart's chambers

are about to burst

…yet there's still room

that bodies grow older

…but not our hearts

I have learned

that God

is the Restorer of Hearts

the Master of mending

broken ones

that although sorrow

may visit us

the heart keeps its rhythm

…hope is not shattered

utterly

I grew tired of the Titanic song

weary of Celine's heart going on

and on and on

but now I understand

the heart does go on

I've also discovered

my heart is undivided

when it professes

Ani le dodi ve dodi li

and speaks of

two bridegrooms

One of my soul…Jesus

and one of my heart…Robert

and I believe

one of the best things there is

about knowing God

is that He is Love

…that we love

because He first

loved us

He just keeps on

filling our thimbles

with inexhaustible oceans

so we'll always

always, always

have Love

to give

Maude Carolan

Note: Ani le dodi ve dodi li means "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine" in Hebrew.

My Favorite Book...

Photo credit: drericz.com

THIS OLD BIBLE

It’s not one of those expensive

gold edged, leather-bound volumes.

Its margins are filled

with scrawled notations

gleaned from personal revelations

and years of teaching

under Jonathan and Wayne.

There are yellow highlights,

asterisks, exclamation points, arrows,

underlines, sometimes double underlines,

sometimes double underlines in red ink.

There are little line drawings, dates,

Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic

transliterations, translations,

prayers copied on blank pages in front,

prayer cards tucked in its pages,

bookmarks, tracts,

a few notes and letters.

Its pages have lost their brightness

from handling and caressing,

they’ve absorbed tears,

illuminated joys.

There are jagged pen slips

from dozing,

many index labels have fallen off.

Its spine has been repaired

again and again.

It doesn’t look like anybody’s treasure.

When I pass on,

there might be a little money,

property, some poems.

There might be a few pieces

of inexpensive jewelry.

You’ll rummage through

the way we did when Grandpa died,

when lots of things were thrown in dumpsters,

lots of things were divided up and given away.

You may be tempted to toss this book,

but, no, no, I know you’ll know

this old battered Bible

is the most valuable possession

I’ll leave behind.

Maude Carolan              

The Leaves are Beginning to Turn...

Photo credit: ebay.co.uk

SYMPHONY OF THE WOODS

I meander through woods

along a beaten pathway in North Jersey

and the music begins immediately

There’s chittering of crickets

and the cacophony of other insects

that are hanging on to life

until the frost, which will come soon

Leaves rustle in the trees

some whoosh past me

as they fall to the ground

and there’s a crunch

of dry ones beneath my feet

I hear an occasional snap of a twig

and the scamper of squirrels

or chipmunks, a raccoon

or field mice scurrying unseen

up and down tree trunks

or frolicking in the dense brush

There may be hidden deer or a bear

Some sounds I cannot identify

Birdsong completely fills the air

all kinds of birdsong—

chirps and coos

and warbles and squawks

I even hear the flutter

of wing flaps

Tying everything together

is the faintest whistling in the breeze

that feels something like tinnitus

ringing in my ears

but it’s not unpleasant

All the sounds blend together

into Nature’s symphony—

a serenade to my spirit

as I stroll

Maude Carolan Pych