Grow Your Soul

We can no longer put out a hand in friendship
We can no longer show our smile.
We no longer hear the sound of happy diners.
We haven’t worshiped together for a long while.

We put on masks to go out and buy our groceries
as rioters loot and vandalize unmasked.
We wash our hands until they’re nearly raw,
and wonder how long COVID-19 will last.

But in moments rich with silence
and they are so rare these days,
we recall only three months have passed
since acts of hate took our peace away.

Life was not perfect for everyone back then,
but the freedom to change things was intact.
Now media lies presented for political intent,
keep the bewildered accepting them as facts.

When did we forget we’re all made in God’s image,
and that all souls are the same color?
When did we forget we are not here permanently,
and judgment awaits a predetermined hour?

It’s then we’ll regret our willingness to live such fractured lives,
by ignoring the actions that would make us feel whole.
Wishing we’d rejected the need to judge and then destroy others,
instead of setting aside the time to grow our souls.

You can’t be suspicious or think murderous thoughts,
when you soul is allowed to be in command.
You can’t blame others for your failures or take what’s theirs
when inside you’re aware of God’s demands.

A soul’s forgiveness of those who dealt it grave wounds
blocks the need to live in the pain of the past.
It’s granted the strength to always address the truth,
assuring it a lifetime few souls ever surpass!