I am not Ishmael,
though i have lived much
of my life under the cloud of him who
abandoned by his father, set adrift with
his mother, and was made the bear the shame of rejection.

I am not Ishmael,
though i have tried with every
ounce of my being to destroy the gift
of life, the wondrous blessings that
were mine, my inheritance I scorned,
and whose life was a forever hell.

I am not Ishmael,
though I have denied my God,
have decried my angst,
and have done all in my power to
find a different path, filled with pain, that
was not mine to bear.

I am not Ishmael,
for I have been redeemed,
I have come to learn, that
I am loved, and that Love is who I am
and that gentleness is at the core of my being
and not hate, deceit, angst, and fear.

I am not Ishmael,
for I have learned to see the
love in me, and in the world, and in
the One that is all Love, I am therefore
renewed in that love, in this moment and those to follow.

I am not Ishmael,
for i have opened up my soul,
have pondered upon my pain,
and have looked into the abyss
from which I have ran most of my
days, and now i see wonder and hope.

I am not Ishmael,
for I have become a new person
welcomed into the temple by His
command, nurtured past my guilt
for his purpose, that i now embrace,
and that I now trace in the twisted past
that was my yesterday.

I am not Ishmael,
though I am made of that past,
and though that past is part of me
it does not determine, but it does inform
my future, i am not Ishmael but Isaac
an heir to the kingdom.

© 2004 By Rodney