The sun rose upon Jacob as he passed over Penuel,
The struggle behind him, the dark night spent,
Blessing of peace after battle seeping into his seeking thought.
In the private bastion of his meekness he had fought a good fight,
Fear and false dealing, the facade of a renegade selfhood,
Surrendering to the angel of God,
The blessed, reclaiming, renaming angel of God.
Out of his meekness, his glory;
Out of his weakness, the strength of a prince of God—
A prevailing prince.
And so the sun rose and shone gloriously upon him
As he passed in the brightness of Israel over Penuel
To discover his brother's face as the face of God.
Fear not the inward battle, the lonely and private wrestling;
Dread not the angel's touch on the sinew of secret pride.
What if return to brotherhood begin with dark apprehension?
What if shock of self-knowledge throw ugly and lingering shadows?
Where you stand, where you wrestle and fight and prevail,
Is Penuel.
There, face to face with God in the moment of finding,
Day breaks,
Angel is grasped,
Clasped, held onto,
Blessing received;
New name written
In forehead, in heart,
In every surrendering part of your princely being.
And the splendid sun, as a banner, streams over your meek,
your diademed head
As you pass over Penuel, led royally forward
To find in the face of your brother the reflected face of God.
