Driving People Away

I remember kneeling in prayer
before I knew the name of religion.
Catholic? Protestant? Who knew?
Now I wonder who is right.
Perfect God what happened to you?

I remember kneeling in prayer,
imagining the Holy Father
standing watch over me,
being sure that was enough
to keep my soul free.

I remember kneeling in prayer,
praying for eternal salvation,
because the perfect pastor said
to Heaven you paved the way.
The Holy crimson drops you bled.

I remember kneeling in prayer,
but I guess I never knew why.
I wonder what Jesus would do
if He were forced to believe
how religious leaders construe.

The following excerpt comes from an article entitled "Religion driving people away," by Miami (Florida) Herald columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. The article was published in the March 15th edition of the Lawrence Journal-World in Lawrence, Kansas.

Who can be surprised if the sheer absurdity, fundamentalist cruelty and ungodly hypocrisy that have characterized so much "religion" in the last 30 years have driven people away? If all I knew of God was what I had seen in the headlines, I would not be eager to make His acquaintance. I am thankful I know more.

Including that God and religion are not synonymous. God is, for the faithful at least, the soveriegn creator of all creation. Religion is what men and women put in place, ostensibly to worship and serve Him. Too often, though, religion worships and serves that which has nothing to do with Him, worships money and serves politics, worships charisma and serves ego, worships intolerance and serves itself.


Prompt: Write a poem about anything you have read in the above lines or any feelings or thoughts sparked within you by the lines.