Cornerstone

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."-------------[Acts 4:8-12]


------Acts Chronicles Chapter 4: Cornerstone (The Thoughts of Peter as He Addresses the Sanhedrin)



We used to talk at night
sometimes on profundities, sometimes not
and
unbeknownst to You
I stared as you slept, musing
on what your soul was comprised of
that enabled the world to be so comprehendible
you to hold onto a fate without pretenses
full of bravery
defiant, almost romantic in pursuit
of what we all felt were lost ideals
in a fallen world full of Roman guile
salvation extended to gentiles, eschewal
of David’s throne – though the crown was overtly offered
the crowd willing to usurp Caesar’s even
yearning to be rallied, yearning to exercise vengeance
let rivers of blood flow through Jerusalem
(their sound a fitting requiem for the lost children slain by Herod)
but lost on Your deaf ears
and ferocity smote on your hands, feet, and head
by soldiers we despised as proxies of our rage
thorns, whips, nails thrust as a repudiation
a denouement, if you will, of Your Philosophy
rejected
as unfitting to a Jewish nation full of angst
for freedom, but ultimately unable to recognize it
in its Purest Form
you were a stone dislodged from a people misguided
desirous to build an ivory tower into the sky
filled with dreams – yet
we are an empty people still, shackled to our misery
oppressed by foreigners and lost - without
the Kingdom You promised to bring us
of which we now realize You obviously
were the Chief Cornerstone...


(establishing a celestial foundation to be built upon)