Morning light

Before we brought Erin Mae, in wonderful morning sunlight, from our isolated overnight mooring to the middle of Congleton today, we found ourselves reading a poem probably more than two and half thousand years old. Whoever wrote it may have taken his life in his hands, given the politics and social norms of the day. Its take on justice offers a perspective on decisions currently being taken by powerful people, of many nationalities, both inside and outside Syria. It appears as Psalm 82 in the Bible. Though not exactly the King James Version!


God calls the judges into his courtroom,
   he puts all the judges in the dock.

“Enough! You’ve corrupted justice long enough,
   you’ve let the wicked get away with murder.
You’re here to defend the defenseless,
   to make sure that underdogs get a fair break;
Your job is to stand up for the powerless,
   and prosecute all those who exploit them.”

Ignorant judges! Head-in-the-sand judges!
   They haven’t a clue to what’s going on.
And now everything’s falling apart,
   the world’s coming unglued.

“I commissioned you judges, each one of you,
   deputies of the High God,
But you’ve betrayed your commission
   and now you’re stripped of your rank, busted.”

O God, give them their just deserts!
   You’ve got the whole world in your hands!