We sang “Jesus Will Fix It”,
As if fixing broken things
Is indeed the right thing to do.
But looking back,
I can see that we didn’t really care
All that much to have everything fixed;
No, what we wanted more than that
Was simply to have a way out.
We wanted to be snatched from this world
Into the other one—
Delivered from its evils
And perils
And aggravations
Into boundless joy and glory—
And to let Him do with the rest of this world
Whatever He would do with it.
We even thought it unspiritual
And worldly–
A needless distraction–
To get our hands dirty with
The world around us.
But I can’t help but think now
That we were freeloaders,
Not lifting a finger to
Protect the body politic
That afforded us so much freedom.
We thought it work for civilians,
And not for us soldiers of Christ.
Now, don’t get me wrong,
For we helped the poor
And the children,
But we did not take a stand
To fight the corruption–
And often, not even the corruption
In our own number.
I suppose we thought Jesus would fix that, too–
Or rather, simply deliver us from it.
What seemed so great a religion,
We used to shield us from
Plain, everyday responsibility.
And I regret that.
