A Weight on Each Shoulder

"The Struggle for Love"

"The Longing for Home"

So desperate to prove

That our hearts aren't alone

While death looms wherewith

To make dust of our flesh

We seek in a myth

Our souls to enmesh

With a hero of hope

A rescuing source

To widen our scope

And give pith to our course

An unshakable tie

An attachment at core

Which might silence the cry

That our hearts are at war

With a pure set of eyes

Full of fire and proficient

To dispel all the lies

That our souls aren't deficient

But it's not our mere lack

Which causes most dread

It's the earth-shattering fact

That our spirits are dead

Cut off from their Source

In a black alienation

Humanity's curse

For its rank ins'bordination

We just want our own way

And to write our own story

So we plunge on astray

To seek our own glory

To play artist or muse

Or idol or chief

Any self-styled ruse

To assuage us of grief

Any measure to show

A lasting signif'cance

So that someone would know

Our unique magnif'cence

For our beauty's been marred

And we crave a redemption

Of souls twisted and scarred

By fulfillment's exemption

But, alas, we will find

That search hard as we may

There's not one of our kind

Who can carry the tray

Upon which the weight

Of our souls has been laid

For who can e'er tolerate

Its gross debts unpaid?

Such suff'cating mass

Of defects and ills

Pressed 'gainst delicate glass

Of egos and wills

Still more ghastly to bear

Is devotion unbound

For with millstone to wear

Its master is drowned

'Neath a sea of foul yeast

And becomes the enslaved

To a hungering beast

To a worship depraved

For the heart is a tiger

And must have its fill

So it raises a man higher

With a kiss before the ****

Not intentionally, of course,

Does it slaughter its idol

But of hurricane force

Is this longing so vital

And as pedestal turns

So quickly to altar

Our wounded pride burns

When our gods and alms falter

And the fire of its rage

Turns upon its obsession

Tiger breaks out of cage

To reclaim self-possession

It bites and it tears

What it once so adored

And pride no longer cares

If it kills its false lord

But upon such demise

The soul screams in terror

For it's broken its prize

And can't take back its error

It begs and it pleads

To restore what's been lost

But at end knows it needs

To consider the cost

Of the damage untold

It has left in the wake

For hearts can't be controlled

With a gush or a shake

No, men's hearts are like bombs

Which so easily explode

Once the pin is removed

All past wrongs will re-load

So the prey becomes hunter

When the tiger attacks

For he does not want her

To see what he lacks

As he, too, had put

Her up in wrong place

But now steps his foot

Upon her shamed face

To now pulverize

As his own heart's been crushed

To blind out her eyes

And to see her lips hushed

For with words idly spoken

She'd stabbed at his soul

And had left his pride broken

By her judgments so cold

She had not meant to harm

Knew not e'en that he heard

But one cannot disarm

A thought put to word

Worse than not knowing this

She no longer knew him

And her once imagined bliss

Proved a nullified whim

Oh, what games and delusions

We play and we build

Upon empty illusions

And dreams unfulfilled

Yet strangely it's when

Our worst fears come true

We can finally transcend

All those old tales we grew

Out of ego and void

Out of sorrow and pain

When our nerves felt annoyed

And our hearts felt too vain

'Cause when ego is puffed

It is primed, too, to pop

And with pinprick is snuffed

Like a pest-blighted crop

So imagine much more

When a venom's injected

Right into its core

And its heart is rejected

But can you also not see

How it needs such a burst

To begin to get free

From its self-absorbed curse?

Except now feels the matter

Of our soul's isolation

Fiercer still with the shatter

Of our pet consolation

So we wait and we wonder

If we've missed the true meaning

Of the frightening thunder

In our heart's constant screaming

Whether homesick or lost

Whether lonely or grieved

Locked in bleak Winter's frost

We find little reprieve

Yet we know we've been made

For the glory of Spring

Some card's still to be played

Some grand song still to sing

Inexpressible yearning

For some secret we know

But can't speak for the burning

Repercussions of woe

Not some mere melancholy

Nor nostalgic forlorn

Not the musings of folly

But a sense that we're torn

From primordial root

And from headwaters fresh

Yet much deeper to boot

From our spiritual breath

'Tis an ache not for wares,

Appreciation or fame

But a fight just for air

Against strangling shame

For we're naked, we know

And with all we devise

Our most flawed parts still show

To a pure set of eyes

Like we're walking around

With no covering intact

But thin hospital gown

With wide split up the back

So we hide our true face

Aim to be what we're not

Work our blots to erase

Lest our schemes should be caught

Be 't by friend or by foe

We dare not risk the pain

Of humiliation's blow

On top of our stain

But instead of relief

Anguish grows louder till

This life's loneliest grief

Paralyzes the will

And last hope all but dies

On doubt's bed of despair

While embittered heart cries

That its lot's too unfair

Yet on outside we play

Through our unconscious mind

Man's collective charade

That everything's fine

Like some pact we'd all sworn

To uphold and obey

To protect from the scorn

Of society's sway

If we run with the flow

'Stead of strive 'gainst the tide

We might make enough show

To salvage our pride

We forget that conceit

Is what caused all the mess

Through a serpent's deceit

And a couple's wrong guess

'Twas they first tasted shame

And then hid in a garden

Sewing fig leaves as claim

To secure their own pardon

Yet in horror they knew

They had squandered the Prize

And must flee from the view

Of a pure set of eyes

Now same state of awry

Runs through each of their seed

Inborn and borne by

Like the thorniest ****

Whose nettles pierce deep

And infect every part

While roots tangle and sweep

Through the mind and the heart

It mocks what we've lost

Torments every dim hope

To constrict and accost

Like a noose-tightening rope

Still, hope won't be decayed

Smold'ring fires yet burn

Sparking hints that we're made

For bright Eden's return

This redemption we crave

Is no phantom's false plea

But as crestfallen wave

Hides itself in the sea

It's been veiled in plain sight

Big as all of our stories

Deep as mankind's full plight

And as high as its glories

Cloaked in every ambition

That we have to get in

To some exclusive coalition

For its favors to win

Lurks a bleeding predilection

Frustrated from birth

A desire for election

To bestow on us worth

Lured by scent of a promise

To be chosen and known

Like the warmth of a mom's kiss

Given only to her own

We search tree after tree

For sweet intimacy's nectar

From a fruit that will be

Our secret connecter

To hope's nourishing breast

To life's honey from comb

To an undying rest

To a straight way toward home

One to wipe away tears

And allay deepest doubt

Which proceeds from worst fears

Of our being locked out

Of a garden again

Cast from pure tree of life

Dim remembrance of when

Mankind first entered strife

All our conflicts, comp'tition,

Confusion and blame

Find first cause in perdition

That's invaded our frame

Like the foulest disease

The most cankerous rot

Grown by monstrous degrees

Hatched by Lucifer's plot

This story's no prig's attack

Nor archaic folklore

But the earth-shattering fact

That our hearts are at war

With a pure set of eyes

Full of fire and proficient

To dispel all the lies

That our souls aren't deficient

And it's not our mere lack

which causes most dread

But the earth-shattering fact

That our spirits are dead

Cut off from their Source

In a black alienation

Humanity's curse

For its rank ins'bordination

And yet...

This is also the story

Of how those same eyes

The Possessor of Glory

Looked with love and heart cries

On the crown of creation

His reflection of Self

Made His own treasured nation

The heirs of His wealth

Now broken and lost

All banished from Garden

And He knew the full cost

To grant them His pardon

Had known long before

He had e'er even made

That first man of yore

Yet handcrafts anyway

For His love is so strong

And He wanted to share

His intimacy with a throng

His own children to bear

So with souls in convulsion

From their rebellious misdeed

Just before their expulsion

He promised a Seed

One untainted from sin

Who could take its great boulder

And the weight of His kin

Upon His own shoulder

A Hero of hope

A rescuing Source

To widen our scope

And give pith to our course

An unshakable tie

An attachment at core

Who would silence the cry

That our hearts are at war

With a pure set of eyes

Full of fire and proficient

To dispel all the lies

That our souls aren't deficient

For those eyes are His own

And He'd pay the full fee

By His body alone

To set our hearts free

He's hope's nourishing breast

He's life's honey from comb

He's our undying rest

He's our straight way toward home

He will wipe away tears

And allay deepest doubt

Which proceeds from worst fears

Of our being locked out

Of the Garden again

Cast from pure Tree of Life

Dim remembrance of when

Mankind first entered strife

But 'twas on another tree

That sweet intimacy's nectar

Was secured tight when He

Became sacred Connector

And the thorns of our curse

Were pressed onto His head

With not one there to nurse

As the Son of Man bled

Then the wrath for our sin

Was absorbed as He cried

And the foul curse was broken

When the Son of God died

But death couldn't keep Him long

Nor His glory dispose

And we found our lost song

When the King of kings rose!

The debt had been paid

He had finished the work

The tide 'gainst us was swayed

We weren't left in our lurk

And we've only to now

Just repent and believe

To open and allow

Our hearts to receive

Our Divine Fountainhead

Our covering complete

To sup from His bread

And to sit at His feet

To worship the One

For Whom we were made

By Whom we've been won

Whom forever we've craved

The One Who can bear

Our hearts' full devotion

The One Who won't tear

At our souls' raw emotion

The One Who will be

Sweet eternity's song

Who with lasting decree

Will...right...every...wrong

Request permission to use this poem

Written by

alyssa-underwood

Published: Apr 13, 2017
LinesWords: 4011.9k

Notes: ~~~

First two lines taken from Timothy Keller sermon titles;
also inspired by his other sermons:
"The Breastplate of Righteousness"
"Blessed Self-Forgetfulness"
"The Sandals of Peace"
"The Wounded Spirit"

~~~

The Gospel of Jesus Christ:

"...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..."
~ Romans 3:23

"...people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment..."
~ Hebrews 9:27

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord."
~ Romans 6:23

"'Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake:
some to everlasting life,
others to shame and everlasting contempt.'"
~ Daniel 12:2

"For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil."
~ Ecclesiastes 12:14

"This will take place on the day
when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ..."
~ Romans 2:16

"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.
Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him
to whom we must give account."
~ Hebrews 4:13

"Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous,
no one who does what is right and never sins."
~ Ecclesiastes 7:20

"...it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue
to do everything written in the Book of the Law.'"
~ Galatians 3:10b

"For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles
at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it."
~ James 2:10

"All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away."
~ Isaiah 64:6

"...sin entered the world through one man,
and death through sin, and in this way
death came to all people, because all sinned..."
~ Romans 5:12

"As it is written:
'There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.'...
Therefore no one will be
declared righteous in God’s sight
by the works of the law;
rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin."
~ Romans 3:10-12,20

"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
~ Romans 5:8

"This is how God showed His love among us:
He sent His one and only Son into the world
that we might live through Him.
This is love: not that we loved God,
but that He loved us and sent His Son
as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."
~ 1 John 4:10

"But God raised Him from the dead,
freeing Him from the agony of death,
because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him...
He was not abandoned to the realm of the dead,
nor did His body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life..."
~ Acts 2:24,31b-32a

"...He raised Christ from the dead
and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms,
far above all rule and authority, power and dominion,
and every name that is invoked,
not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
And God placed all things under His feet
and appointed Him to be head over everything
for the church, which is His body,
the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way."
~ Ephesians 1:20b-23

"For there is one God
and one mediator between God and mankind,
the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all people..."
~ 1 Timothy 2:5-6a

"...Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures...
He was buried...He was raised on the third day
according to the Scriptures..."
~ 1 Corinthians 15:3b-4

"...God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ,
not counting people’s sins against them."
~ 2 Corinthians 5:19a

"'Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that
through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.
Through Him everyone who believes is set free from every sin,
a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.'"
~ Acts 13:38-39

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Through Him all things were made; without Him
nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life,
and that life was the light of all mankind...
The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.
We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son,
who came from the Father, full of grace and truth...
For the law was given through Moses;
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ...
'...the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'"
~ John 1:1-4,14,17,29b

"The Son is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn over all creation.
For in Him all things were created:
things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities;
all things have been created through Him and for Him.
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
And He is the head of the body, the church;
He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead,
so that in everything He might have the supremacy.
For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him,
and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things,
whether things on earth or things in heaven,
by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross."
~ Colossians 1:15-20

"'For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.'"
~ Luke 19:10

"...He appeared so that He might take away our sins.
And in Him is no sin."
~ 1 John 3:5

"...Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect."
~ 1 Peter 1:19b

"God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,
through the shedding of His blood—to be received by faith.
He did this to demonstrate His righteousness,
because in His forbearance He had left
the sins committed beforehand unpunished—
He did it to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time,
so as to be just and the one who justifies
those who have faith in Jesus."
~ Romans 3:25-26

"In Him we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins,
in accordance with the riches of God’s grace..."
~ Ephesians 1:7

"For the life...is in the blood,
and I have given it to you to make atonement...
it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life."
~ Leviticus 17:11

"...and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness...
Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many..."
~ Hebrews 9:22b,28a

"'All the prophets testify about Him
that everyone who believes in Him
receives forgiveness of sins through His name.'"
~ Acts 10:43

"For by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever
those who are being made holy."
~ Hebrews 10:14

"'He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in His mouth.'...
He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross,
so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness..."
~ 1 Peter 2:22,24a

"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous,
to bring you to God."
~ 1 Peter 3:18a

"Jesus answered them, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.'"
~ Luke 5:31-32

"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins
and purify us from all unrighteousness."
~ 1 John 1:8-9

"God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,
so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."
~ 2 Corinthians 5:21

"...For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed."
~ 1 Corinthians 5:7b

"Surely He took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered Him punished by God,
stricken by Him, and afflicted.
But He was pierced for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on Him,
and by His wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all."
~ Isaiah 53:4-6

"And He died for all, that those who live
should no longer live for themselves but for Him
who died for them and was raised again."
~ 2 Corinthians 5:15

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,
that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world,
but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him
is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned
already because they have not believed in the name of God’s
one and only Son... Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,
but whoever rejects the Son will not see life,
for God’s wrath remains on them."
~ John 3:16-18,36

"God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
Whoever has the Son has life;
whoever does not have the Son of God
does not have life."
~ 1 John 5:11b-12

"He was delivered over to death for our sins
and was raised to life for our justification."
~ Romans 4:25

"...just as Christ was raised from the dead
through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."
~ Romans 6:4b

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade..."
~ 1 Peter 1:3-4a

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation:
The old has gone, the new has come!"
~ 2 Corinthians 5:17

"...to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name,
He gave the right to become children of God— children born
not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will,
but born of God."
~ John 1:12-13

"Jesus replied, 'Very truly I tell you,
no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.'...
'Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God
unless they are born of water and the Spirit.'"
~ John 3:3,5

"...born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,
through the living and enduring word of God."
~ 1 Peter 1:23

"...birth through the word of truth..."
~ James 1:18

"Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message,
and the message is heard through the word of Christ."
~ Romans 10:17

"...to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies
the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness."
~ Romans 4:5

"...not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law,
but that which is through faith in Christ—
the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith."
~ Philippians 3:9

"This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ
to all who believe."
~ Romans 3:22a

"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under
heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved."
~ Acts 4:12

"Since we have now been justified by His blood,
how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him!
For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through
the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled,
shall we be saved through His life!"
~ Romans 5:9-10

"For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith—and this is not from yourselves,
it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast."
~ Ephesians 2:8-9

~~~
for a fuller list of verses:
https://hellopoetry.com/poem/2179517/the-gospel-of-jesus-christ/
Tags: #home #struggle #salvation #jesus #shame #humiliation #guilt #jesuschrist #eden #easter

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