Nothing to Defend

Reflection

The verse begins, “Kinsmen, friends, and lovers salute a man who has been long away, and returns safe from….” In its chapter, this image points toward the stress created by possessiveness. It also makes practice relational: the people you listen to can strengthen or weaken your best intentions. Because this is a historic English translation, test the teaching in experience rather than treating its wording as a demand for belief.