SACKCLOTH AND ASHES

 

There is no excuse for infidelity;

Covet not!

Power does not allow you to take what you want;

There is responsibility!

It is easy to fall, to desire all things.

Patience and temperance are needed,

Accept your lot.

Poor man or king,

Rebellion requires discipline.

The height of reason is no defence,

Where planning and consideration,

Make a difference.

We are all tempted to take short cuts.

That trail is fraught with danger;

Understanding is to provide,

A temporal guide.

Remember Christian, a Pilgrim,

Bunyan knew that way;

Condemned and unforgiven,

If you choose to stray.

There is an offer of passage,

A rite of ancient worth,

A reconciliation, of self,

And of faith!

A public declaration,

Prepared on your behalf.

A moral obligation, prostrate before your Lord.

Edward the Confessor accepted,

The weight upon his head,

Published before the people,

His repentance.

Go forward and sin no more,

The mighty words of our Lord.

Your forgiveness granted,

Upon your confessed request,

Providing you have come in earnestness.

From Abraham to Moses,

Humility has been the way;

To seek our God's forgiveness,

Each and every day.

We do not dress in splendour,

Bring gifts of gold or silver;

For God has all of this;

We bare our souls, our spirit,

Beneath our simplest form.

A robe of sackcloth binds us,

Ashes our head adorn.

Who can challenge such a penance,

When our faith and law provide,

A renewal for a person,

A chance to start new life.

 

July 16th. 1993 © Will George.

Will George Poet

will-george-poet.co.uk