O memory of painful time,

Are you seed or stone?

A dark and deadly tomb,

Or seed with life to bloom?

Only if I say, “I want you,”

Will I really know.”

O sprouting seed, are you angry?

At the dark and choking dirt?

What grates your tender shoot,

And blocks your chosen route?

Only if I say, “I forgive you,”

Will I really know.

O tender shoot, are you bargaining,

Demanding sun before you grow?

Or would you rather as the sun

Pour warm love on everyone?

Only if you say, “I forgive you first,”

Will I really know.

O roots, do you wander depressed

Searching in drought for tears?

Or do you need more sun?

To dry the tears that run?

Only if I say, “Forgive me,”

Will I really know.

O golden wheat, can you accept 

The gifts of pulsing seed?

Are you wheat or golden bread?

Are you bread or Christ instead 

Only if I say, “Thank you,” 

Will I really know.

Unless a green or wheat

falls to the Earth and dies 

it remains alone, 

but if it dies 

It bears much fruit. 

John 12: 24

By Matthew and Dennis Linn

Posted on January 12, 2023 at 6:35 pm in Difficult Relationships   |  RSS feed |   Reply   |   Trackback URL