by Kelly Pelton

Autonomy, the gift of God to govern self
was given to Adam and to Eve, each having choice
of how to live. God said to them, "Subject creation,"
not "Rule one another." We could rejoice

that love is not controlling, hence, we have free will,
hence, God is not controlling; He elects to let
us function independently for good or bad,
embracing or rejecting our Creator. "Set

your minds on things above," the scripture orders us,
but we're not forced to be compliant or obey
a single law or teaching of our Lord. We're free, and
God is not controlling us; He lights the Way.

As people who resemble Him, depend on Him,
let's stop controlling one another; let's respect
the free will of each man and woman to decide
for himself/herself whether Christ I will reflect.

Let's recognize a woman's role to rule herself
and all creation, same as man, and trust that God
will lead the genders to be all-relying on
the gentle, all-surpassing Holy Spirit's prod.