The resistance

After Romans 7:7-25

A war rages.

On one side:

what it is

we’re supposed

to do, to believe.

On the other:

what our hearts,

our minds, our souls,

want to do instead.

There’s a sense, 

inborn, of what 

is right. There’s

a sense, inborn,

of what we want

to do instead.

It’s a war

we cannot win

without help.

It’s the war

Of already

not yet.

We cannot win

on our own,

no matter

how great

the desire.

Photograph by British Library via Unsplash, Used with permission.

I have to ask

After Romans 7:7-25

I have to ask the question,

what is it that prompts me

to do wrong? What is it

that compels me to see

a law as a challenge

to be overcome? Why

do I translate 60 mph 

as 65 mph or 70 mph?

What’s worse (of course)

is when I pat myself

on the back for observing

the law and see others

ignore it and speed by,

leaving me to swallow

their dust. Even when 

I know the rightness

of the law, my heart, 

mind, and soul wage

war against it. And

often win.

Photograph by Ludovic Charlet via Unsplash, Used with permission.

Conundrum

After Romans 7:7-25

A puzzle: a law

says there is a wrong,

and you must do right

(think speed limits).

But the mere fact

of the law lead us

to break it (what’s

five miles over

the limit, anyway?).

What is meant

to produce a good

leads to the creation

of a wrong. Perhaps

it’s not the law;

perhaps it’s the DNA.

Photograph by Olav Ahrens Rotne via Unsplash. Used with permission.