mercy!

“Once you were not a people,
    but now you are God’s people;
once you had not received mercy,
    but now you have received mercy.” 1 Peter 2:10

you turn your workshop

into a bedroom for us, and

and put an extra place setting

on the kitchen table, while

we put more bolts on our doors

and locks on our pantries;

you cradle us in grace

and forgive us for every

dumb thing we’ve ever done,

yet we hold tight to our grudges,

and remember every slight

every whispered (or imagined)

Lord, have mercy

(once again, please)

© 2019 Thom M. Shuman