Jack Pelham

On the road to Repentance,
One happens upon the sort who will
Praise him for being on that way,
Declaring what an inspiration it is
To see someone turning it around―
And overcoming oppression―
And making something of himself.

They can’t seem to settle on the best reason
To do the right thing.

Some say it is so that you won’t get in trouble.

There is a huge difference from one human to the next
Regarding how serious we are about sin.
And there is a huger difference still in this regard
Between the best of us and God.

If it’s true as he says―that he knows that
He has not studied it deeply,
And that he has quite a limited view,
And could well be wrong in what he’s about to say―
Then why in the world is the fool venturing
To say on?

Reading the Bible is somewhat like looking into Harry Potter’s Mirror of Erised. That is, the actual meaning of the content aside, people tend to see in it what they want to see.

I don’t mean to suggest that it’s a magical book, designed to yield up a different content to each reader or listener. Rather, I’m talking about a phenomenon of the human mind itself, and not of the texts―a phenomenon that the reader brings with him to the text, and through which his interpretation and/or understanding of the text is influenced.

As if they were public defenders, looking to champion
The most absurd cause imaginable,
Some of them will even defend Judas Iscariot,
As if he did not go willingly into that darkness,
But had been forced there by virtue
Of having grown up in a bad neighborhood, perhaps,
Or having been mistreated by his dad.

Some are proud to posit that he betrayed Jesus
Simply on account of being rattled
By fear of radical change in the system.

And some say he did it not from wickedness, but to force
Jesus’ hand into overthrowing the government―
As if such, were it true, were not also a wicked manipulation.

And it is intriguing to watch them have a go at it―
Each in his own turn, defending the man,
Denounced as wicked by scripture itself,
As if it were not actually possible
For any man to be wicked.

And it is at this point that I think I have
Put my finger on it,
For if Judas can be wicked,
Then so can any of us.

And this is a truth some are unwilling to admit―
Though I suspect it is not truly on account
Of a problem with the general idea of it all,
But with the specific implications as it
Regards the possibility of their own wickedness.

They look for a way around
The stark truth of the matter,
As if God himself could be outthought.

Having diligently studied Matthew 7,
Right up to the comma, noninclusive,
He is now expert on the teachings of Jesus
And can tell you exactly what you ought not be doing―
Which includes, chiefly, reminding him of certain matters
Of diligence regarding those teachings―
Things he had already put out of his own mind
To be ignored indefinitely before you came along,
Showing yourself likely to be getting in his business―
Because some people just know what sort you are.

Some among those in the churches―some, mind you, and not nearly all―will cry out against the hypocrites in the churches. They call them Pharisees, and rail at them with deep conviction over their hypocrisy―over claiming to be loyal to God and Jesus, but cheating in the practice of it, and in the way they interpret the scriptures to their own twisted advantage.

By the time I was six or seven,
I was well-convinced that my denomination
Was the best there was, and that
My congregation was the best in town
Of that denomination.

He was at his church once,
And he heard the leader saying a thing
That he pretty much knew
Didn’t jibe with scripture.