After Acts 7:1-60
It’s the peroration, the end
of a long speech, a lesson
in how human nature remains
unchanged. He punctuates
his rhetorical finish with words
with words designed to punch
the point home. Stiff-necked.
Uncircumcised. Resist the Spirit.
Persecute truth. Kill. Betray.
Murder. Violators of the law.
He flipped the charges back
on them, using the history
they knew so well, the history
they believe they overcome
because they’re smarter and
more devout than those
who came before, because
they know better, their minds
are free, they are liberated.
What he’s saying, of course,
is that they are no better
than those who came before.
And before the day is done,
they will prove it.
Photograph by K. Mitchell Hodge via Unsplash. Used with permission.
Human nature doesn't change over time if we are left to our own devices. Great poem, Glynn!
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