Expostulation: A Psalm

Easy and light?

Sometimes it seems You

Expect us

To turn straw into gold;

 

Here, scrabbling in the dust,

We wait with open hands,

And sometimes it seems

You expect us

To turn straw into gold;

 

Not to complain;

You know what to do

I’m sure,

But some of us

Are not omniscient,

And sometimes

You seem

To expect us

To turn straw into gold.

 

And the sacrifice wouldn’t

Be so hard

If it weren’t for the exhaustion

Of figuring out

The place and time

For the appointed offering;

So sometimes it feels

Like You

Expect us

To turn straw into gold.

 

And yes You have promised golden crowns,

But I can’t help wondering:

In heaven, when we get there,

Will we be handed straw hats,

And expected

To turn straw into gold?

 

Yes, yes, I know, but I am weary and complain,

Yes, I know, there is a loom for this,

In the shape of the cross;

Yes, I know it touches

The tapestry of history,

Weaving straw into gold;

 

But sometimes

How it works

Is a puzzle,

And sometimes we wonder

Whether You Who care

So much for gold

– forgive what I speak, and change it –

Whether You even

Notice the straw as well.