this is for the broken ones
smart enough to know how foolish they are
this is for the ones who have tried
and found life lacking
This is for those not content
to confess that THIS
is all there is

this is for wearied ones fighting
the fads of wondering if
our crying hearts might drown us
It is for those who know
our tears are telescopes to heaven
looking through trembling lenses
for hope and deeper senses
of home

this is for those who don't need church
to be a menagerie of SAINTS
but an emergency room for sinners
It is for those whose shadows are faint
from finding too much light

It is for those who step out
onto nothing hoping
to land on something
because
accepting that you are accepted
is a perception of yourself
not everyone can afford

But this is for the wobbly and weak-kneed
who have let loose the luxury
of denying a handout
of amazing grace

This is for those who chose
a path, though straight and narrow,
is still rugged and beaten

You are still on the right track

This is for the phobic confessors
who could never match the projections
Of the pious
It is for those to whom perfection
is a gangly wire no one
could ever walk

This is for the child who holds
that heaven is full of five-year-olds sparing themselves
the futility of proving themselves
to people who will never speak their language
Of half cartoon, half boo-boo, and half "Daddy, I love you."

3 halves
they make one more than whole

Do not accept yourself only
as you should be but
as you are because
you will never be
as you should be

Quit rinsing your filthy rags
in gas station bathrooms
as if hand soap and make-believe
will make them believe you belong

But you belong

You belong to a kingdom belonging
to people not trying
to be cleaner than they are

You belong

This is for the sin-soaked and broken
who are loved and outspoken
knowing un worthy
is not the same
as worth less

This is for the paupers who have made peace
with their flaws and their friends
it is for those who have prayed in silence
but never ceased to pray

This is for you
Do not for one second take it for granted

Be certain
your gift is contagious

Though it is yours to have
it's value is only in it's giving away

Make sure your every conversation
leaves a sensation
of love

Because this

is where the mighty descend and the lowly rise
to comprise what we all crave