I need to make a confession.
I LOVE MY CHURCH!
There is not a day that goes by, that I don’t have some contact with someone from my church. Don’t get me wrong, my church has issues. (Well, I attend there … and hence it’s bound to have issues!)
If you can’t identify with me and my love for my church, I get that. If you have been wounded by the one place that should have been there for you, I think I understand. If your love for Church has become cold, or if you never have considered to give the Church a shot, could I ask you to consider to find one?
The following poem came together over many months.
I wrote it. I re-wrote it. I re-wrote it some more.
I thought it was too dark, not dark enough, too hopeless and too hopeful.
Maybe after reading it (all the way to the end), let me know what you think.
Maybe it will prompt you to tell me about your experience with the Church.
Maybe we could pray together and ask Jesus for a touch of His healing on our hearts and His Church.
While taking a stroll through the woods one-day,
I saw a big man walking my way.
He swung and he waved his hands in much strife,
In right hand scissors, in left hand a knife.
He jabbed and he stabbed with furious might,
With one hand the other – a grotesque sight!
With tools in hand he cut his own digits.
I shuddered in fear; my heart turned frigid.
When he got real close I could clearly see,
He was in much torment and agony.
With a last great effort he pierced his palms,
Then fell next to me with an eerie calm.
I bent over him and looked in dismay
At his disfigured body – didn’t know what to say.
“What’s your name? Can you hear? Sir, reply!”
He whispered “I’m Unity!” and then he died.
~
I kept on walking on that narrow trail,
When all of a sudden I heard someone wail.
A man was limping and dragging along
On unsteady foot and not real strong.
Around his body lay heavy chains.
As he tried to walk, he sighed in pain.
On his back a burden pushing him down
His face expressed a bitter frown.
When I got real close I could clearly see
He was in much torment and agony.
And as he approached I asked this poor man,
“Who did this to you?” He could hardly stand.
He collapsed and sighed with a sad looking face,
“When Unity died these chains took place.”
He said he was Freedom, took one more breath,
Then all his burdens crushing him to death.
~
Dismayed and discouraged I kept on walking.
My path seemed dark; then I heard talking.
A man was mumbling and approaching real quick.
He appeared to be hungry, thirsty, and sick.
I heard his words they were hopeless and sad –
Filled with cynical reasons why all was bad.
He was speaking to self and the more he talked
The more downcast his steps and the slower he walked.
When I got real close I could clearly see,
He was in much torment and agony.
Awful disparity came from his lips –
From a mouth filled with gloom his last words dripped.
He whispered a few useless words with a groan,
Then turned to me with a quiet moan.
“My name is Hope. I have come to my end,
For Freedom and Unity both were my friends.”
~
My mind was troubled and tears filled my eyes.
My heart was heavy, but to my surprise
There in the distance a fourth man appeared
A light shone around Him. My heaviness cleared.
His being was filled with love. I could tell
He knew who I was and He knew me quite well.
His gazed pierced my heart and filled my mind
With love that wasn’t an earthly kind.
When I got real close I could clearly see
That He held out his beautiful hands to me,
“Come, child and witness how I will revive
Bring Unity, Freedom, and Hope back to life.
I will raise Unity up in this place –
A testimony to my people of grace.
Freedom won’t carry large burdens in pain –
For I’m the One who will loosen his chain.
Hope will be strong and my people will see
That Hope is alive because of ME.”
And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
Colossians 1:18
~
“Jesus, I am grateful that you use a weak people like us
to make your Kingdom known to the world.
Help us to live among an un-unified people with the love you put in our hearts.
Give us the courage to speak of the freedom you bring to our souls.
Show us how to always point to you, our Eternal Hope of Heaven!”
~
(Pictures and poetry Heidi Viars, 2017)
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Ken, from the moment you stuck these words into your guitar-case and said you wanted to let your guitar get aquatinted with this poem, they were a perfect match!
