i bring You my refuse
i bring You my shame
i bring You the wrong
i have done in Your name
i bring You my selfish
i bring You my snide
i bring You the wreckage
and spoils of my pride
i bring You the half truth
i bring You the mean
i bring You the bad
and the grey in between
for the one thing
reliable here in the muck
is the plentiful fountain
that spouts all my yuck
so i lay it all down
all the rough and the hard
from a battle still raged
heart divided and scarred
and i stop to pick up
patience left by the creek
and the strength ever-ready
to bolster my weak
i drink of the Water
that’s living and pure
and refresh my parched soul
in this pit of manure
for two minutes of pause
i remember what’s true
i cast off all the old
and i put on the new
and i shoulder my load
and i take the next curve
for today i’ll obey
not to be served but serve
and to pick up that cross
that was carved just for me
by the One i’m to follow
One who set me free
the One who could decimate
me with one breath
but instead breathes new life
on the corpse of my death
Amen and Amen.