Did you hesitate, O Holy One,
when you looked at the state of things
and imagined the pain of immersing yourself in it?
Did you debate with yourself
when you saw across the expense of time
and realized that we wouldn’t change much in the long run?
Did you despair for a moment
and reconsider previously abandoned options
(like starting over, as you did through the Great Flood)?
And are you hesitating again now,
shaking your head over our wars and glitz, and
remarking to the heavenly host: “Let’s give them more time”?