Many return to church
for fear of Hell
they speak all the right sentences
put a fat Caesar’s salad
into the collection plate
hoping to slip into a heavenly pew
like the one they’re in now to sing
less for redemption and salvation
than to avoid justice.
Christ paid it on the cross
they’ve paid it here
even stevens!
I seek the Lord of children’s
clean-hearted laughter
the Christ of children
who would never
think to torment
a pet or a vulnerable sibling
where the discarded frolic in God-lit fields
with the Velveteen Rabbit
and every dog, cat, or horse
every animal
that died in terror, pain,
loneliness
finds a Christmas hearth
care and love.
Imagine what He would do
for us abandoned humans
fleeing the bleak Hells of our hearts
sick of the smoke and poisoned drink
the cursing and dark
helpless, hopeless
for whom the final Lake of Fire
would be a mercy.
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