Timshel

Timshel. Thou Mayest. A reference to the book East of Eden. Which is a retelling of story of Cain and Abel. Which is the biblical account of the second sin. The first, of course, was Adam and Eve eating the "apple" in the garden. That story was about deception and distrust. But this story highlights the choice. Cain becomes jealous of his brother Abel and God steps in with this warning/encouragement/advice:

Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.

Put another way:

Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.

And another:

Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up? and if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door: and unto thee shall be its desire, but do thou rule over it.

Yet another:

Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

One more:

Poukisa ou move konsa? Poukisa ou mare figi ou konsa? Si sa ou te fè a te byen, ou pa ta rive nan sitiyasyon sa a. Men, paske ou fè sa ki mal, peche kouche nan papòt ou. L'ap tann konsa lè pou l' pran tèt ou. Men, ou menm, se pou ou kenbe tèt ak li.

OK, that last one was a foreign language, but the question remains: What is God saying? Is this a warning? A command? A suggestion? A promise?

It's a choice. And that's the point. Whether your decision is politicized (abortion), forbidden (murder) or allowed (hate), personal (suicide) or public (war), it is a choice-- your choice. We cannot simply say "God's will be done" and absolve ourselves of all responsibility. But neither cannot we deny the reality that there are forces (namely good and evil) outside of ourselves that are vying for dominance. And in the midst of that, when faced with a choice, we must keep our heads (run the Creole version through Google Translate to catch that last reference).