Scores of Bad Books

My Mom had accumulated eight shelves
Of unread Christian books and more.
I spent a dozen hours and eliminated scores,
Looking in vain for a blessing equal (almost)
To simply reading Scripture. None to be found.

A few books held a blessing, though.

I.
In God’s kingdom, though what you do may seem
Insignificant, there is significance yet.
And when you pray, avoid I and me,
And think instead of us and we.

II.
When you feel a prompting to act,
Follow The 10-Second Rule and simply do it
In the next ten seconds. Don’t delay.
Don’t play safe or justify.
Pray or aid or give right then.
This obedience pleases God.

III.
It seems, sometimes, that the response to prayer is
God on Mute. How horrifying. How human.
I might prefer to believe that there was only one
Silent day after Good Friday, one day waiting
For the consolation of Israel and the whole world,
And no other such days since then.
And yet, the experience of many saints says otherwise.
God may be present, but he may be silent.
I don’t enjoy that thought.

IV.
Is Church sometimes Messy? Yes, of course.
Church has people, and people are messy.
Could there be a better vision for a church than
“Whatever Jesus said or did”?
No one goes to AA and comes away disappointed.
They need fellowship and they know they are broken.
Maybe we need to lower our expectations for church,
And lower our opinion of ourselves.