Jesus, Lord, Come This Way

          ,

       

Jesus,  

            Surely you see this mess

            That we are in

            And know the stress

            And its roots in sin,

Is that so?

Jesus,

            You left some lofty place

            That is far beyond my eyes

            To come into this troubled space

            As we head downhill to our own demise,

Is that so?

Jesus,

            You cast your lot with us                                

            You pitched your tent here

            What do you make of all this fuss

            And the people who die year after year

For decades centuries?

Jesus,

            From your other worldly view

            Surely you see Black people lynched

            Dead on arrival at the hospital

            Because a cop’s knee his neck pinched

And drained his life before our eyes?

Jesus,

            Our people are enraged                                             

            Our people are mourning

            As this war is waged

            With plenty of warning.

What about that pain and suffering?

Jesus,

            You walked and traversed

             Lots of miles beneath the sun            

             People saw you and cursed

             At you and the stories you spun

To what ultimate good?

Jesus,

            People who look like me

            Carry guns and offer threats

            Hanging that effigy from that tree

            When said and done, any regrets

By those folks?

Jesus,

            That young man dead

            Hunted like a deer or rabbit

            By men racism inbred

            Hatred their deadly habit.

Is it so?

Jesus,

            If you were to come again                                                    

            And live amongst us once more

            Could we say thank you and amen

            Or would you close the door

Are we too beyond hope?

Jesus,

            You saved her from the religious

            You kept her from dying

            From rocks and the prestigious

            Pompous cruel lots of folks crying.

Do you see the connections?

Jesus,

            You talked to her by the well

            You told the truth about her life

            Racism simply aside fell

            She was not somebody’s wife.

And you forgave her sins?

Jesus,

            You who faced the angry mobs

            Your human body did hang from the tree

            Can you hear our painful sobs

            Do you feel our frequent pleas

For respite from the pain?

Jesus,

            And that gives me hope

            For a brighter day and time

            When no longer is a rope

            A gun a knee the answer until then I’m

Going to pray grieve and shout

Help my corner of the world turn itself around

And know racism and what it’s about

Is just another deadly ungodly sound

That neither you nor I nor them can bear.

Jesus,

            We want to hear

            And live not in fear

            Shedding another one more one more tear

            While on this planet rear

Our children.

Jesus,

            Save us we plead

            We have made the world a mess

            Our hateful selfish harmful evil deed

            Racism our greatest sin we do confess.

           

Jesus,

            Please forgive

            Please forgive

            Please forgive

            Please forgive