MOSES AND THE SHEPHERD
(For Moin Khan)

Moses once passed a shepherd at his prayer

And paused to hear this simple man declare

His love for God by promising to tend

To the Almighty’s every need and lend

Him all the comforts that he could afford

Promising milk and honey to the Lord.

Hearing which Moses flew into a rage

He asked the shepherd, “How can you engage

In idle bribes and chatter in this way

With Him Infinite, and how dare you pray

To God as though he were some needy friend?

Stop offering these silly things and bend

Your body and your mind in total awe

And pray as you were taught to pray. No more

Of babbling about baubles to the King

Of all the heavens that infinite thing

Which surpasses all our worlds and resides

Beyond the light of a thousand suns, besides

You must know that we mortals have no right

To involve God in our miserable plight.”

So saying, Moses left the shepherd and

Went on to prophesy to all the land.

Then God breathed these words into Moses’s ear

“You know that shepherd? You were too severe

With the poor man; he wanted to convey

His love for me, so he began to pray

And what he said came straight from his heart

You must have heard, he was willing to part

With anything he owned or thought would please

What better worshippers are there than these?

To tell the truth, Moses, prayer has no form

Like inner lightning, shapeless as a storm

In its sincerity resides its force

No other value shapes this intercourse.’

Then Moses sought the shepherd out again

To admit that he was in error when

He interrupted him and specified

How he should pray. Then on that same hillside

Both Moses and that joyful Shepherd knelt

And each offered a prayer that was heartfelt.