The Ashes Of Belief

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* Jeremiah, Holy Church pray for me
* Saints pray for me
*  Dedicated to #IamJehoiakim

+------The Ashes Of Belief; The Thoughts Of King Jehoiakim As He Burned Jeremiah's Scroll 

Winter is for dreamers, fur clad,
teeth chattering, winds
snow-blustery, reflecting on
regressive failures that chill
to the bone, on Judah shackled
to Egyptian meddling, then
on a gilded throne
gold-glistening, my supremacy
again. An eagle surveying,
talon eagerly clasping tip of
the tree, all that he
could and should
seize, conquer. (Lust unabated,
blood of enemies, blood for gods,
drugs, slaves, strong drink, deceit.
Life proudly debauched.)
Any notions, to the contrary:
scroll-char, ash, soot, smoke
of fools. All who doubt my
success…can burn in hell.  

-----Jeremiah 36:11-26
When Micaiah son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll, he went down to the secretary’s room in the royal palace, where all the officials were sitting: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Akbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. After Micaiah told them everything he had heard Baruch read to the people from the scroll, all the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Bring the scroll from which you have read to the people and come.” So Baruch son of Neriah went to them with the scroll in his hand. They said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it to us.” So Baruch read it to them. When they heard all these words, they looked at each other in fear and said to Baruch, “We must report all these words to the king.” Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you come to write all this? Did Jeremiah dictate it?” “Yes,” Baruch replied, “he dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them in ink on the scroll.” Then the officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah, go and hide. Don’t let anyone know where you are.” After they put the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary, they went to the king in the courtyard and reported everything to him.  The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and Jehudi brought it from the room of Elishama the secretary and read it to the king and all the officials standing beside him. It was the ninth month and the king was sitting in the winter apartment, with a fire burning in the firepot in front of him. Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire. The king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear, nor did they tear their clothes. Even though Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the Lord had hidden them.