The Carpenter's Hands

Jeremiah watched a potter's work,
saw him destroy his ware, squash it back to clay,
understood a parable of God's giving up
on Israel, balling it up, beginning again.
Six hundred years later a carpenter lived,
knew God as nobody else.
He didn't despair of "righteous people,"
men who intended to stone a woman
for dalliance while not blaming the man.
Instead of squashing them,
his hand drew pictures in sand until their guilt
did the job, and the people realized
that God doesn't squash us,
he changes the way we see the issues.