A Prayer for the World

I closed my eyes to the world,

For I could not bear another

Moment of its peril,

Persecution and sword.

All the fighting was too much

To take in each day,

The cruelty and carnage,

The swearing and insulting,

Turning heads to wrongs abounding.

So, my hope was hanging

In a precious balance.

Whether I could go on,

Was in doubt, for sure.

I decided to appeal

To my higher power,

The merciful God of Spirit,

Who had rescued my life from ruin.

Somehow, there must be possibility

For my present earth to reconcile

All this shambles of civilization,

A carcass of the creation

That existed so many years ago.

I prayed a solemn petition,

Asking Jesus for His grace,

A gentle dose of mercy

For this time and place.

And so I placed my trust

In the heaven above,

Shedding no more tears for the future.

I know it is in God’s hands,

And I believe that is enough.

Up

I was going to say

Something wonderful,

But I stopped short of wonder,

And went with terrible, instead.

It seemed more appropriate,

And I was content.

I thought I might compliment

All the impressive things

Being done in the world,

But before I got very far,

I contemplated the war machine,

And colonization, and slavery,

So I let it be, and moved on.

So many good people doing good things,

It makes me want to have faith,

But instead I think about

Corruption, shootings and partisanship,

And I want to throw up.