An Anatomy of Evil (A Poem)

An Anatomy of Evil

Jesus was not tortured

   and killed

      by evil men,

but by the systemic evil

   embedded in the institutions

    of his time:    

      the ruling political authority

       and the politics of His established religion.

The evil-doers themselves,

   all victims of systems.

“Father, forgive them,

for they know not what they do.”

Jesus understood.

Jesus forgave,

   for there was no evil about Him.

You and me,

we are also ruled

  by an evil we scarcely

     recognize.

Deluded are we.

Enchained are we.

Unconscious are we.

We confess peccadillos,

   unable to see

     what is at the root

       of our never-ending struggle.

Have you ever reached a point

    where everything was settled?

Have you ever achieved mastery

    over your vulnerabilty?

And you try so hard:

you pray; you confess;

you consult; you therapize;

you medicate.

Yet there is always

   an indefatigable existential angst,

and you do things that are wrong

   even though you are a good person,

or at least try to be good.

Read the Psalms:

they are mostly about battles,

and the battles are contemporary

and being waged within our limping lives.

Jesus understands.

Jesus took all the evil upon Himself,

  the peccadillos, the hideous crimes,

    and the system sickness

which endures to this day:

the plagues; the politics;

the injustice; the poverty;

the holocausts throughout history;

the tormented sexuality;

the torture and hunger and unwanted refugees;

and whatever twists your gut

    by day and by night.

Jesus understands.

Jesus takes it all.

And you, and I,

we will never conquer,

but we will survive

under the shadow of His wings,

until the day

when the pure unsullied Kingdom

is all that remains;

is everything.

We must wait.

And hope.