A Blessing and a Wounding

A Blessing and a Wounding
Pentecost 10; Genesis 32:22-31
At times we come to crossings
as Jacob did at Jabbok.
Our people and possessions
go on across the waters –
incentive and appeasement
to clear a path to follow.

Yet we remain, in turmoil,
as day gives way to nightfall.
Do past transgressions hold us,
or future risks unnerve us,
or have we lost the meaning 
of who we are or might be?

There in the dark we wrestle
with self or something other,
no victory to either.
We’re out of joint and hurting,
but still despite the begging
“Let go, for day is breaking”,
we cling on for a blessing.

And so as light is dawning,
we claim another naming,
and say that we have striven
with God, and were prevailing,
and yet the one who held us
in struggle or embracing
has slipped away still nameless –
our claiming is our failing.
    Barbara Messner July 2020