Solomon was right.
There is nothing new
under the sun.
Man is an old hand
at corrupting God’s word
at using psalm and proverb
as excuses for evil in disguise.
Rather not honor
a needy parent with
the fruit of your labor?
Just give more
to the poor, right?
Wrong. Half a truth
is still a lie
but we try it anyway,
figure out some
double-speak
that lets us say
we are honoring
the commandments
when we’re not.
Jesus reminds us
that God sees all.
Much as we might like,
we cannot pull the wool
over his eyes.
With one voice
we swear Never!
and tell ourselves
how thoroughly
we despise the Pharisees.
But we had better be wise
to check the mirror first
to look deeply
find whatever small way
we do the same
then pray:
Father, forgive us.
Mark 7:1–13