Did not the prophet Yeshu say
That to enter God’s Kingdom
One must first become a child?
Well, today I’m a little closer:
For God has again assumed
The face of a wise old man.
Had Yeshu himself reached forty, and married,
Perhaps his spiritual Abba
Would’ve also become a Sabba;
Thus Christendom would have worshipped
Neither a celibate youth
Nor a gnostic Don Juan.
As for the wary Jews,
They would have gladly accepted Yeshu
As a mensch.
For in a wise old man
Kindness, experience, tolerance and humour
Are the ingredients of Love.
Jerusalem
21 May 1992