The absurdity of shalom

Is that it always has

Always will

Always must exist

In every corner of the world

In every wrinkle in time

In every cradle of civilization

In every ecosystem

And every epoch

Shalom is an undeniable and universal truth

That human beings simultaneously acknowledge and deny,

Yearn for and shun.

And until we realize our self-sabotage

Shalom will continue waiting for the human heart

To break into wholeness

Shalom will continue waiting for the unblinding of

The human eye

Humbly, shalom will keep waiting for the human voice

To burst into song

And for the human soul to pour forth into

The clearing

Where the undeniable reality of shalom patiently resides.

The absurdity of shalom is

that shalom, humanity’s finest idea,

was never ours to create, only to uncover.

It always has and always will exist, independent of us,

Who presume to have dreamt it into existence,

Waiting for us to become more fully human,

We can, must, and eventually will share in the shalom that

Resides all around us

But from which we have tragically excused ourselves

Without even realizing it.