O Eve

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals
that the LORD God had made.
The serpent asked the woman,
“Did God really tell you not to eat
from any of the trees in the garden?”
The woman answered the serpent:
“We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;
it is only about the fruit of the tree
in the middle of the garden that God said,
‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.'”
But the serpent said to the woman:
“You certainly will not die!
No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it
your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods
who know what is good and what is evil.”
The woman saw that the tree was good for food,
pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.
So she took some of its fruit and ate it;
and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her,
and he ate it.
Genesis 3:1-7

And when the serpent whisper
slid hissing in your ear,
how long did you resist it,
“You surely need not fear”?

How often did it echo
on any given day?
How often did you beg God
to take the thought away?

Yet if he did, it crept back,
louder, stronger, again:
“But did he really say that?”
revolving without end.

You tried to tend the garden,
distracted through your days,
your eyes forever drawn to
the truth you mustn't taste.

How long 'til it consumed you,
caught in the serpent's teeth,
until you failed, as all do?
And we have called you weak!

Yet be consoled, O mother,
howver deep you fall,
for there will come another
to enter that same brawl,

and he will sink down with you
to dwell among the dead
whence he has come to lift you
and crush the serpent's head.

You, firstfruits of temptation—
how can the heart conceive?—
are mother of salvation.
Exult! Exult, O Eve!

“Eve and the Serpent.” Plate from Penholm by G. Howell-Baker. – https://digital.cincinnatilibrary.org/digital/collection/p16998coll21/id/38116/rec/1, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=104281987

Temptations

For the First Sunday of Lent, and the temptation in the desert:

We do not live on bread alone,
but by the word of God—
a feast that may as well be stones,
if words are all our food.

O Christ into the desert led,
and there how sorely tried,
you give us both the Word and bread,
and we are satisfied.

We shall not test you, Lord our God,
demanding signs and works,
but strike the rock with Moses' rod
or we shall die of thirst.

And so we strike you, saving Lord,
to test this love divine.
You give us water—what is more,
you turn it into wine.

Yes, we shall worship God alone,
and him alone we'll serve.
If we should kneel before his throne,
it's more than we deserve.

So, Master, you should say to us, 
“Serve me, so I can eat.”
Instead, you look upon our dust
and kneel to wash our feet.

Yes, you, who made us, know our strength,
our weakness and desires.
What we would chase to find but death,
you turn into new life.

The temptation of Christ by Tobias Verhaecht – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=114470497

O Word of God

One for the First Sunday of Lent, especially the temptation in the desert. to the tune TALLIS’ CANON:

O Word of God, be on my lips,
as near as every fading breath.
Upon my tongue let honey drip
to drown the bitterness of death.

O Word of God, sustain my life:
I cannot live on bread alone,
but strengthened in the daily strife
I journey onward to your throne.

O Word of God, within me dwell
and fill the chambers of my heart.
My thirst for fame and power quell;
your living spring to me impart.

O Word of God, suffuse my mind
with trust in you and in your plans.
No matter where my pathway winds,
you bear me ever in your hands.

O Word of God who came to earth
not as a mandate carved in stone
but wailing wordless at your birth,
all my temptations you have known.

O Word of God, O great high priest,
like me in all things but my sin,
O, be my comfort and my feast.
By your compassion draw me in.

12th-century mosaic in St Mark’s Basilica, Venice By anonimus – http://www.basilicasanmarco.it/eng/basilica_mos/patrimonio_interno2.bsm?cat=1&subcat=2#, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4150909

God Alone

One for the Temptation in the Desert:

In garden verdure, fertile feast,
we scorned our service, worship ceased,
and so were overthrown.
So in a desert farther east
the savior scorns to be increased
and chooses God alone.

He turns from want and even need,
refuses to break fast and feed
on bread of sand and stone.
Whereas we chose excess and greed,
to be from mortal limits freed,
he chooses God alone.

We chose our glory and our power
(that rend ourselves and then devour)
our own selves to enthrone.
In barren lands and graces' shower
(and when at last shall come his hour)
he chooses God alone.

Oh, savior, lead us by your ways
through mournful nights and desert days
up to your wooden throne
and then beyond. Oh, mercy, raise
and grant us grace to sing your praise
and choose now God alone!