Greetje: New page: {{info}}Abednego and Meshach winced
With Daniel when the monarch rinsed
His guilty hands with water from
The bowls of Nebo, then put some
On each eyelid to symbolize
His tea...

Greetje — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:59:56 GMT

New page: {{info}}Abednego and Meshach winced With Daniel when the monarch rinsed His guilty hands with water from The bowls of Nebo, then put some On each eyelid to symbolize His tea...

New page

{{info}}Abednego and Meshach winced With Daniel when the monarch rinsed His guilty hands with water from The bowls of Nebo, then put some On each eyelid to symbolize His tears, and that the royal eyes Knew nothing of the brutal end Of Shadrach, and by this defend Himself against the spreading word That Shadrach’s insolence had stirred His anger to the boiling point, And after naming him to joint Preferments with his friends, he had Him slain. The posing king was clad In grieving gowns and let his speech— His eulogy for Shadrach—reach Its pinnacle of pretense when He praised his noble faith and then Proclaimed, “How great the god our friend And brother served! Would I could blend My blood with his to render praise For such omnipotence, and raise My feeble voice with accolades For sacred power that pervades The world of kings and blocks their claims To rule the earth, and saves from flames, And elevates to offices Of state all lords and kings by his Design. O, let all Babylon Bewail this loss! And may there dawn A day when good men are increased And those who kill them turn to beasts!” 

The court’s polite applause was loud With unbelief, and in the crowd Three men stood motionless. The king Could see them from his throne. “Go, bring, Those men to me,” he whispered to His royal guard, and pointed through The crowd to Daniel and his men.

He met them in the chamber when The ceremony was complete. “Your attitude was not discrete,” the king observed. “You did not like My speech. It seemed that you would strike Me with your eyes. Why do you find The praising of your friend unkind, And look so rudely on your king Today, as if my worshiping Your god were something small Or insignificant?”

“When all Your pow’rs are spent, your majesty, On sham, there’s little left to be Successful as a judge. It is Not small to worship God. And his Omnipotence is worthy of Your deepest truth and highest love. But your duplicity is plain To every eye. You feel no pain For Shadrach’s death, and feel no love Toward Shadrach’s God. The moon above Is what you fear. You are the slave Of Rak, the god of night, and gave That name to him, Shadrach, in hopes The moon would bind our friend with ropes Of fear the way your soul is bound. And failing that, you soaked the ground Last night with Shadrach’s blood. And now You think we should applaud and bow Before your two-faced parody Of grief. May God grant you to see That moonlight flatters infamy As fair, and blesses blasphemy. And speeches that you learn at night Do not play well in broad daylight. Tonight, O king, tonight! A dream! One final dream. And God supreme Will make it known. I know that when I’m gone, you will not want again To see my face. But when your great Enchanters fail, your dream and fate Will torment you down to the bone Until I come and make it known.”

And so that night the king lay on His bed and pondered Babylon, The great and mighty empire he Had built. And then, behold, a tree Appeared. Was he asleep? Awake? He didn’t know—or care. At stake Was everything: his sanity, His royal crown, his life. The tree Reached to the clouds. It could be seen From anywhere. Its leaves were green And beautiful. Its fruit was sweet And so profuse that all could eat Their fill and leave abundance for Another day. The birds that soar By day, found nesting here by night, And every beast escaped the bright And burning sun by resting there Beneath its shady branches where The grass was soft and cool. The king Felt pleased . . . until a voice cried, “Bring This tree down! Cut its limbs away, Strip off its leaves and fruit, and say To all the birds and beasts, ‘Go find Another home.’ Now seize and bind This stump with bronze and iron bands.” And then the voice gave its commands Mysteriously about a ''man'', As if the banded stump began To live. “Now may his portion be With beasts, and may this former tree Eat like an animal and day By day be soaked with dew the way A naked stump is soaked, and may His mind be like a beast, and stay In bondage until seven times Pass over him for countless crimes That he has done. This is decreed By holy ones. It is agreed: It shall be done. And all who live On earth shall know that they must give To God the right and pow’r to rule The world and put, on any stool He please, his royal feet, and bring The lowest man to be a king.”

That was his dream. Not much remained For sorcerers, when he retained Them and demanded that they tell Him what it means. But silence fell Across the vain enchanters, till He saw that they could not fulfill What he required. Then ev’ry bone Inside the king felt like a stone, And he could scarcely make his mind Consider that he now must find The meaning of his dream inside A hated Jewish mind. His pride Almost prevented it. But where His pride rose up, fear countered there, And seized the royal will and gave The king the anxious strength to brave The shame of asking Daniel to Interpret one more dream.

“So you Have summoned me, your majesty Again? You like the company Of Jewish refugees, it seems. Or do you only fear your dreams So much that you would even eat With dogs if they could but repeat What you see in your sleep? Your fear, I think, is warranted. The smear Of Shadrach’s gracious blood does not Rinse off so easily. The blot Is deeper than your hands, and streams Up from your guilty soul in dreams And rises with a crimson flow To quench with life the fading glow Of Raku’s reign. What will that mean For you, my liege? What have you seen? I wait to hear your dream.”

And so, In hopes that Daniel could foreknow What this portends, he told him all His dream: the tree, the height, the fall, The stump that seemed to live, at least To breathe, but scavenged like a beast. “What do you think?” the king inquired. “I think that all Shadrach desired Will come to pass within two years.” “I do not know what spikes or spears Your friend desired for me, but can You say if in this dream a plan Unfolds for me, and if so what It is?” So Daniel gave the plot And summed up God’s decree with this: “The tree is you, O king. Dismiss Forever any thought that you Can run or hide from God’s design, Or, if you could, that you would dine More hopefully than in the fields Of Babylon with beasts. God wields The weapon of insanity To decimate the enemy Called arrogance and bring to naught The haughty mind and lofty thought Of emperors, and make the blood Of Shadrach blossom with a bud Of life, sprung from the stump of your Delirium. The word is sure: Twelve months of crimson moon, and then The mighty tree will fall. And when It does, there will come forth a shoot, The sacrifice will have its fruit.”

And when the circle of a year Was made complete, the court could hear From on the palace roof one brief And final boast: “I am the chief Of all the rulers of the earth, And I own all this royal worth, And by my power I have made All this, and leaned on no one’s aid.” And while the words were still between His teeth, the king collapsed. The scene Was unforgettable. His eyes Sank hollow in his head. The cries Of wife and children made him rage, And like a savage beast, the cage Unlocked, he bounded to the field. And seven months of moons revealed The bestial outcome of his boast. He ate grass like an ox. And most Of ev’ry night he prowled beneath The moon, and like the dripping heath, Was soaked with dew—as if the sky Itself would make him clean. And by The end of seven months his hair Grew long and tangled without care, And on his bleeding hands and feet The nails were curled for catching meat, Like eagles’ claws, but without flight, Or any thought . . . until one night The moon, as white as new-blown snow, Sent down its beam of borrowed glow A message from the sun,

“The reign Of Raku is no more. The stain Of stolen light is washed away With crimson streams. And now the day And night will be as one, and what You worship in the light, will not You worship in the night? Not Bel Or Nebo any more. Farewell, False gods. The light has come. O beast And royalty, awake!” Released, Nebuchadnezzar lifted up His eyes to heaven and the cup Of reason was restored—and more. His mind was bright with truth. The door Of heaven opened to his gaze, And from his lips came humble praise: “O God Most High, yours is the pow’r. Yours is dominion every hour Until there is no time, and then Forevermore. Yours are the men Who think they are their own. And yours The empires of the world, and doors That men think they can shut against Your plan. You are a God unfenced By any bound’ries on the earth Or in the skies above. To birth And death you bring the smallest bird And greatest king. One simple word From you: It comes to pass, and none Dare think or say, ‘What have you done?’

To you, O God of grace, I bow, And by your mercy I do vow, O God, from this day forth to give You thanks, and by the way I live, To say with all my heart I love You, and I stand amazed that though I tried to burn your saints, I owe Them now my soul. And shall I boast In anything but grace? Foremost Of all my boasts and thanks is not That I was king or pow’r my lot, Or led the nations with a hook, Or plundered Israel, or took Your people in captivity, But that by this you captured me. This day I choose another fame: May Hananiah be my name.”

The flame is sent from candle four To burn the moons that we adore, Lest we become, by baying for The moon, a beast. But even more: The light of candle four is sent To show us that the Lord’s intent Is this: that if he must, God makes A man a beast and kindly takes His mind, that in due time the beast Will lift his gaze to heav’n and feast His eyes on God. And should you say, “Is there a sacrifice today Required?” The Lord himself will give Reply: “There is. But as I live, And love to save, that deed is done! This time I gave my only Son."

Nebuchadnezzar, Part 4 - Revision history

Greetje: New page: {{info}}Abednego and Meshach wincedWith Daniel when the monarch rinsedHis guilty hands with water fromThe bowls of Nebo, then put someOn each eyelid to symbolizeHis tea...

Greetje: New page: {{info}}Abednego and Meshach winced
With Daniel when the monarch rinsed
His guilty hands with water from
The bowls of Nebo, then put some
On each eyelid to symbolize
His tea...