Show us more than real estate,
for we have deeper needs than
plush seats and pleasant architecture.
Show us more than outreach—
although we came because of it—
more than a warm welcome,
for we have deeper longings than
human kindness can fulfill.
Here among your respectable congregation.
we wince, stand out as
wino, addict, dropout,
liar, lonely, thief,
down-and-outer,
flawed, unwanted,
prostitute and sick,
fooled by false gods,
yet yearning for God,
yearning for good.
May your silent prayer
open our hearts
to the anointing of the Holy Ghost.
May your reading come through
spirit-perfect,
entering open hearts,
healing
what needs healing
with precision,
by revealing exactly
what human sense has been concealing—
that sin and sinner are its self-made concepts
and never us at all!
