Twenty two,
That was the age of the two in the news
One took life,
One gave it away…
And I am wondering what all this giving and taking
is saying about the faith we share,
or the lack thereof
The first generation of the unchurched
seeking the sacred through
alternative
children of the mothers and fathers who turned away
from the mothers and fathers
that spoke of one faith and
lived another
children of the mothers and fathers
who didn’t conform
or checked out
or worshiped their work.
Spitting the bitter tastes from their tongues
of those who
claimed to be sinless, with authority
and in the name of God
but warts are always evident
in humanity,
Like oil rising to the top
it is not long before we are all exposed and
separated by the light of true holiness.
Her funeral will be this Sunday,
Her family has flown in from Brazil
A light extinguished too soon
by her own hand
an overflow of brokenness
which in silence went unhealed.
Her husband said, if she had only ten dollars left to her name
and you asked her for it,
she’d give you eleven.
And across the country
today in Tuscan a mother weeps for her
nine year old girl
who was at the wrong place,
at the wrong time.
In the hands of one who thought wrong
was right for all the wrong reasons
And I am wondering what could have been done
to save those who were lost
Words that would have made the difference
Time together
Time Apart
Time, just more time,
to figure out the need.
If we only had more time….
Twenty two….that was the age of the two in the news
one took life, one gave it away.