May the Circle Be Unbroken

When Joshua crossed the Jordan,
He commanded that the children warriors be circumcised
Where the twelve standing stones stood.

Their fathers had wandered in the wilderness,
Disobedient and faithless,
Unable to enter the Promised Land.

But, as the LORD commanded,
They died,
And their children warriors planted wheat.

The manna no longer fell from the sky,
From the breast of the Holy Ghost,
Feeding the infant kingdom.

Fruit was harvested
From the garden to which the people returned
After Adam and Eve had left.

I am this or that.
I am not this or that.
I am good or evil.

Who shall I say sent me?
I am that I am, says the LORD,
He told Moses.

And they believed,
And they walked through the parted waters of the Red Sea,
And they walked into the wilderness,

With the staff that Moses held in his hands,
The waters were parted,
With the snake that ate the snakes.

But the way grew hard.
But the wilderness never ended.
The people grew weary.

They complained, saying,
Why have you led us into the wilderness to die of thirst?
It would have been better for us to die on the swords of our enemies.

The LORD heard them and spoke to Moses, saying,
Speak to the rock at Meribah,
Where the people quarreled with their God.

But Moses raised his staff into the air
And struck the rock, twice.
He disobeyed. He disobeyed again.

Because you did not believe me,
Because you did not uphold me as wholly unbroken,
Because you did not trust this circle would not end,

You will not enter the Promised Land,
Where milk and honey flow,
Where gardens grow.

When Joshua crossed the Jordan,
He commanded twelve stones to be raised
To remind the people of God's faithfulness.

Not one stone, but twelve.
I have brought your children out of the wilderness,
And by the standing stones the warrior children were circumcised,

When Joshua saw a man holding a drawn sword,
And asked him,
Are you for us, or are you for our adversaries?

The Angel of the Lord said to Joshua,
Take off your sandals,
For the ground upon which you stand is holy.