conflict and fear are a part of the human condition.
it's what separates us from the angels with halos that shine brighter than the sun, with wings more grand than the tallest building, and with lifespans longer than even the universe could fathom.
god created us in his image, but we are nothing like him.
we are not all-seeing, all-knowing or all-loving.
he is not imperfect, impetuous or inconsistent.
and because of this, he can't understand.
he can't understand the child who weeps at the grave of his father,
taken from the earth by a man who thinks himself divine.
he can't comprehend the grief the mother feels when she receives the phone call that alerts her to the loss of her son,
whose life ended when a wallet was confused for a gun.
he can't grasp the anger of a society that marches and protests because they're still dealing with the same corruption that has plagued their country for years.
god can't understand, and he doesn't try to.
all he can do is love. he'll never know.
but the devil,
the devil knows; the devil understands.
he knows tears, he knows grief. he knows anger and he knows pain.
and he's sick of it.
he sits with the child at his father's grave;
the boy swears he can feel a comforting hand on his back, but when he turns, there's no one there.
he's at the funeral of the son;
he gives the mother flowers, and though she doesn't know him, she feels a strange sense of tranquility when he gives her his condolences.
he's at the marches and the protests;
even if they can't understand why, the society collectively remembers that anonymous face in the crowd whose voice was the loudest and whose anger was the fiercest.
the devil didn't create them, but he does all he can to protect them.
after all, they're his children, too.
ephesians 4:2.
YOU ARE READING
when the devil becomes the advocate: a biblical allegory in nine parts
Poetry"it all started with the holy war." a poem about injustice, inequality, and the villain responsible for it.
