Fruit and Sheep


What if the fruit of his labor
wasn't cabbages or pears?
What if the fruit of his labor
was his striving and wishing
to be good enough
to appease the angry God—
for God to say, "With you I'm satisfied."

What if God's disregard for Cain's sacrifice

was God saying, "I cannot delight in anything you do"?

And Cain felt it

as I do everyday.
The pressing in of inadequacy.
The wondering if my sacrifices are good enough.
And the fear that they are not.

And what if the lamb of Abel's flock

wasn't the right choice of profession
or a symbol of obedience or godly living?
What if the lamb of his flock
was an admittance that no fruit of his labors
could appease the displeased God.
Nothing but a lamb's blood, the lamb's blood,
would lift God's face towards him.

And I with that blood spread across my doorposts

am then with Abel a delight.

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