Jesus help us live in peace,
even as we go to pieces.
The body of the redeemed
pulled apart by faithfulness,
yanked by righteousness,
clawed by holiness.
Ecclesial politics as a blood sport.
We stand our ground grandly,
confident of its moral highness.
“They’ve lost the way,”
“They don’t care,”
“We are following Jesus,”
echo back and forth
God, we invite you into the fights of our lives;
fights with the ones we love the most,
our brothers and sisters, our partners and parents, our children.
Despite all our promises and hopes to honour and cherish,
we drop the ball and all hell breaks loose.
Words explode like grenades on the home front.
“You never,” “You should,” “You always.”
“I’m sick and tired of,” “Not this again,” “That’s it.”
Anger spews out of us,
fear and rage rumble inside.
We know how this plays out,
I am a Mennonite pastor currently teaching theology at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario. I’ve served congregations in Ontario and most recently, Alberta.
I love to write and to lead worship! If you are finding my writing helpful, I would love to hear from you! Feel free to use or adapt the material here, it is all written by me. If printing material, please credit “Copyright Carol Penner www.leadinginworship.com” (and say whether you modified it). If publishing, please contact me for permission. Contact me at carol@leadinginworship.com
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