New Poem . . . “I Desire a Church”

I Desire a Church

Earl Stewart, Jr.

 

I desire a church,

Where the love of God is foremost and the cogitations of man is not considered to be the agitating force of worship.

 

I desire a church,

Where the sinner is loved in the utmost way and welcomed in similitude to a wealthy father embracing his prodigal son.

 

I desire a church,

Where Christ is, was, and continues to be.

 

I desire a church,

That was once blind but is grateful in its ability now to see.

 

I desire a church,

Where laughter and the tradition of good humor is just as paramount as the earnestness of biblical indoctrination—where saints can be themselves in the purest and most miniscule of forms.

 

I desire a church,

Where youth is certainly celebrated, meticulously mentored, and neither despised nor destroyed.

 

I desire a church,

Where age is revered, cherished, and listened to like eager great-grandchildren kneeling before the recliner of a family elder to hear a story at Christmas eve.

 

I desire a church,

That is not puffed up, stuck up, or too holy to evangelize, where testimony is not feared but encouraged, willing to stick out its neck to go outside into the world rather the world just simply come in.

 

I desire a church,

That does not stand on the domitable means of ceremony and the order of worship is by the guidance of the Holy Ghost.

 

I desire a church,

That recognizes it tolerates imperfection while striving toward perfecting of its parishioners.

 

I desire a church,

That delights in hardship and instills within its congregants the sanctity in allowing it to be one’s pathway to incomprehensible peace.

 

I desire a church,

Where time is filled with swift transition yet living on one’s knees always allows one to stand in each and every sinkable situation.

 

I desire a church,

That hungers and thirsts for righteousness as much as one’s internal organs thrive in the state of suffocation for a molecular morsel of oxygenation.

 

I desire a church,

That desires to make Sunday the least segregated day of the week instead of the most segregated.

 

I desire a church,

Where seeking is as consequential as finding and where loving is equivalent to being loved.