Heaven's Hug

The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise (1813) by John Martin  

Running, looking back over shoulders. Sweat beads, fear.

Fleeing the garden, 

peace and safety.

Purity exchanged for lies,

delusions of freedom and power.

The knowledge of all brings chains.

Shame awaits in open fields,

hopelessness in hidden corners.

Death lurks everywhere, 

seeking to fulfill the curse's promise.

Untruth reigns.

Yet,

Love stakes a claim.

One Name.

A Promise remains...

in Him.

I followed Eve's folly into a world of madness and discontent

for I thought too little

of a love that dies 

to bring peace and joy...that won't.

Endless corridors offer enlightenment,

leading away from 

the Light that lifts souls from darkness

and 

fools from apathy and death.

A garden.

A plan.

A claim.

He came.

An unwilling disciple.

An unwilling candidate.

Odd one to choose I suppose.

Why would love stoop down to the lowest of lows?

Passionate, yes.

Zeal, indeed.

Unwilling to accept such a lofty creed.

I'll never get it, no.

A Righteousness, not my own.

Freely given.

Rejected.

Not embraced.

Traded for a taste of lack

and 

dissatisfaction, 

offered by a world which rejects truth.

Love. 

Grace.

But, that one face looking down from that  one place,

with eyes that did embrace-

all humanity...

in one earth splitting, death defying, 

life eternal 

hug.

Love tore the curtain, reversed the serpent's plan, set apart forever

The One and Only God that became Man.

Jesus.

Name above all Names.

Painting by C. Michal Dudash

Special thanks to my daughter Katherine who helped me choose the name for this poem.

She said Heaven's Hug sounded "cozier" and more inviting than Eternity's Embrace.

Jesus is about inviting, each one of us to His place of coziness.

He loved us enough to appeal by laying down His own life 

to offer us an eternal hug in the everlasting place

called Heaven. He waits for us to accept this truth.

To be embraced with His everlasting love, immersed in His peace and joy forever.

Starting where we are now.

Now that's a hug I want to embrace!

How about you?




“True peace comes from embracing what is, 
not from ceaseless striving to change everything around me 
to make my life more safe, secure, comfortable.”
~Dan Meadows in The Mosaic Bible

Linking Up with Writing Canvas and
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