Speak Kindly to the Rock Within

וַיָּ֨רֶם מֹשֶׁ֜ה אֶת־יָד֗וֹ וַיַּ֧ךְ אֶת־הַסֶּ֛לַע בְּמַטֵּ֖הוּ פַּעֲמָ֑יִם 
And Moses raised his hand, and struck the rock with his rod twice
 
We will not enter our promised land
If we strike the rock within.
 
If we speak harshly to the rock within,
We abandon ourselves to wandering
Endlessly in a wilderness bereft of life,
Until we surrender
The doubting, faithless parts of ourselves
And they turn to dust.
 
Only then, when those parts have died,
And we learn to speak kindly to the rock within,
Only then, will our water flow
And we will enter that promised land
At last.

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