STOP…In The Name Of God

With each report…of sirens…rockets…terror…

My heart constricts…shrinks…and trembles…

And I try…to be strong…to be fierce…to believe…

That this land…our land…my land…

Is protected…by a power…an Almighty…

Who is determined…to let us…prevail…

And as these thoughts…float through my head…

They meet another train…of wandering words…

That say…that it sounds…eerily similar…to the rhetoric…they use.

And I am confused…because God…the same God…is being launched…

As a weapon…for both sides…of a war…with no end.

My thoughts…attack each other…until I realize…the solution…is only…to be rid…of the thought…altogether.

I am left…empty…hollow…afraid.

But then…my daughter…chanting Psalms…as she asks the God she was taught to love…to keep…everyone…safe…all the soldiers…all the people…everyone…allays my fear…with her simple…pure…convictions.

I am struck…with a new thought…of right and wrong…good and evil…and the God…the same God for everyone…who also gave my brain…the abilities…the opportunities…to make choices…to find my way…through…around…between…the thoughts…that collide…and explode…and confuse.

The children sleep…in relative safety…for now…and I align myself…with the side of this war…that will ensure their safety…and reaffirm my belief…that my God…wants me…to do what’s right…for me.