The Reluctant Christian Mourns

When I, each time anew, shed tears as bread and wine are blessed. Am I sad for You or for my gnawing emptiness?

Do I cry because You suffer? You perfect Lamb, unblemished life. Or do I cry from self importance, presumptuous and full of strife?

I thirst! I hunger for Your love. I am too well versed in my need.

I cry for my lonely destitution – I also cry because you bleed.

Inseparable, my joy and grief, my love embedded in my plea. O Lord, please make whole my belief, purify thought, word, and deed.

– Angela Micheli Otwell, 2008

(minor revisions 05/15/2019)

Prints of this image are available for sale here.