This is brokenness, scorched and empty sky
Threats hanging in the air around me,
I laid down with a rock underneath my head
I dreamt
Majestic beings rising and lowering
on a staircase
from the dust to heaven.
And a Towering One,
The One, El Shaddai
(God Almighty)
Promising to me
All my life upturned, fear-running,
I vowed.
Is this my Father's god?
Is this Elohim
(the Living Word, the Many Powered)
It sounds like him,
giving land,
promising multitudes of decedents.
My grandfather said, "like the stars,"
This god says, "like the dust,"
spreading blessing east and west.
This god spoke in my dream.
When I woke I made him a deal.
If you'll be with me
watch over me
give me food
give me clothes
let me return to my home
then you can be my God
And this stone I set up like a pillar will be your house
And I will give you a tenth of all that you give to me.
Then I journeyed on,
in search of the land of the people of the east,
my mother's kin.
