(This poem is free for all who appreciate the value of free things. For everyone else, please pay $1.00 per line to ensure your enjoyment.)
Look at that tree.
It gives shade to all beings that wander beneath its branches.
It doesn’t pick and choose
which one deserves the shade and which one doesn’t.
Look at that blackberry bush.
It gives blackberries to any fool who comes along to pick them.
There is not a bush on earth
that withholds its fruit from the unworthy.
Look at that stream. It gives water to the rich and the poor,
the sinner and the saint,
any amount of water they want;
all the water it has.
Look at those flowers,
giving away scent like bottles of spilled perfume;
like free samples at a cosmetic counter,
never even thinking of profit.
Can the breeze that blows on you withhold its breath from me?
There are People who think god is like People
picking and choosing, weighing and judging,
blessing and disdaining,
loving and rejecting.
But I say God is like these.
Like a tree that can’t withhold shade,
like a bush that can’t withhold fruit,
like a stream that can’t withhold water,
God cannot withhold love.
God never thinks of profit,
but there are many who think to profit from god.
They ration the sacraments and limit the blessings.
They call dibs on the altar.
And when the pews in their churches are empty,
they will wail and wonder
why everyone is outside.
Comments will be approved before showing up.
Deb Velders
February 24, 2021
This poem speaks directly to my heart. So beautifully put. Comes at a heavy decision time just perfectly. I am grateful.
Thank you for sharing.