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Jeremiah 17, an interpretive reading

Joy Harjo, Poet Laureate
image credit : Shawn Miller/Library of Congress
This interpretive reading also uses language from Joy Harjo's Speaking Tree which was also read during the worship service.

Reader One
Reader Two

Jeremiah 17:5-8
5 This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in humanity,
    who draws strength from mere flesh
    and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
    they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
    in a salt land where no one lives.
7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in God.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
    and never fails to bear fruit.”

INTERPRETIVE READING         Tim   Laurel
This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in humanity,
    who draws strength from mere flesh
    and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
(agreement) This IS what the Lord God says
She who relies on her own strength will be damned.
She who thinks she can do it on her own will fail.
She who works so hard just to hold herself together will eventually fall apart.
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
    they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
    in a salt land where no one lives.
She is like a woman in a dry riverbed aching with thirst;
She digs at the gravel, the sand, the dust.
Her nails crack and her fingertips bleed.
What little water rises tastes bitter; there is no life in it.
PAUSE. BREATHE
7 (proclaim) “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in God.
(relief) “But blessed is she who trusts in the Lord,
    knowing God is near.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
    and never fails to bear fruit.”
She is like a woman with a well reaching deep in the earth.
In summer heat her want is soothed.
Her children never thirst.
She knows no fear, 
confident in the Source,

Drinking deep what is undrinkable. 

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