A Map of Time

A Map of Time

There are no words in the world more knowing,
more disclosing
and more indispensable,
words both stern and graceful,
heart-rending and healing.
A truth so universal: God is One.
A thought so consoling: He is with us in distress.
A responsibility so overwhelming:
his name can be desecrated.
A map of time: from creation to redemption.
Guideposts along the way: the Seventh Day.
An offering: contrition of the heart.
A utopia: would that all people were prophets.
The insight: man lives by his faithfulness;
his home is in time and his substance in deeds.
A standard so bold: ye shall be holy.
A commandment so daring: love thy neighbor as thyself.
A fact so sublime: human and divine pathos can be in accord.
And a gift so undeserved: the ability to repent.

~I Asked for Wonder by Abraham Joshua Heschel, pages 74-75