Poem: Glamorous Faith

The way that it was pictured for me
You would speak then believe
Believe then receive
And troubles that would intercede
Would simply be a moment to heed
As the leaves of your faith simply flowered on display.

The way it was clamored about
You would have this zeal to chat about
And the entire world would walk about
Repent, believe, and the cycle would begin to rout
All of those who weren’t expecting life to be about
The emblazoned path polished with the steps of a righteous way.

Yet it wasn’t until I lived it out
That the love, miracles, and victories to shout aloud
Would be hard pressed from those who were so devout
To sprinkle some reality in with their fearless doubt
Or anger, or brokenness, it really didn’t matter what they’d tout
The truth of their religion was bludgeoned into piety.

The way life has pictured this for me
I would receive the challenge to take up a cross
Find at every turn that life was but a loss
Then to gain the pain of a faith that gets tossed
Roundabout the sweetness that occasionally becomes like frost
Somewhere in me is there some glamorous faith to be displayed?

And the hope is that I would clamor about this truth
That no matter what it is that I seem to boost
That I get pruned of what seems in need of use
Or what I have bitten off has chipped a tooth
Therefore my smile has to be real joy uncoufed
Or at least a faith that was honest in its approach.

But I fear that what could be so neat
Really finds itself under a sheet
It’s really more rare to meet people like me
Because in this society celebrity we entreat
And therefore miss the truth of this walk that’s better described as deep.

And so I’m wondering aloud about that glamorous faith
What was it about the image given that made me take chase
What was it about the life they lived that wasn’t belief in haste
But had this mark of realness beyond celebrity’s gates
But had this mark about frailty plastering even their neighbors in the face

Asking simply, is God pleased with the scars on that face
With the limp, the sores, the heart, the soul that loves waste
Is God pleased with the things we have embraced
Or is his heart about what was written in the holy texts
The lives of those who had truly a glamorous faith.

The way that it was pictured for me
You would believe before you would see
You would receive before you would release
You would struggle before you’d proceed
And before hearing the declaration that cause glee
You would produce a picture that would speak for eternity.