Two went up to the temple to pray,
a Pharisee and a tax collector….
—Luke 18.10
And I was sure I was the righteous one,
humble in my correctness,
and the other, the bigot, clearly
neither right nor humble enough….
although, in fact, we pharisees are good people,
and we tax collectors actually are scum,
and we know it, which I guess is the point,
so I’m not sure which side I’d be on:
the good one, the butt of the joke,
who’s spent a lifetime trying hard,
or the sleazeball, accepted, forgiven,
but still technically a sleazeball….
which means, in the end, all our judgments
are delusion, and there is no grace
in deserving, but only in receiving,
so we both end up praying in unison,
God be merciful to me, a sinner.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
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