God, you have become known to us,
Not in abstract theologies,
But in action –
Specifically, the action of salvation.
We cried, you heard –
And our cries caused such an upheaval in you
that they could not be borne in silence and inaction.
You then became known to us
In the gift of torah:
Not a legal code meant to lock us unto airtight boxes,
But a sweet gift to give us the freedom to become,
Even as you allowed the world to become:
A creation that knew light from dark, day from night,
And could live in the harmony of the changing seasons.
We confess that we have, so often, forgotten the rhythms of that harmony,
Or have made harmony into dry rules and regulations
To sap life from people.
As we study your Story today,
Let us once again
Thrill to the cadences of freedom –
From slavery, from false expectations,
From rampant individualism
That has no concern for the beautiful creation of community.
Thank you for covenant, God of relationship.
Photo: Douia, France – Ana Gobledale
