Extravagant Love in Public

 

I had the privilege of reading a poem I'd been asked to write last Sunday. This is the third year our church was asked by the Deep Ellum Arts Festival to present a Sunday message. We were outside on the big stage, in the middle of Main Street in Dallas. What's so amazing about it is the fact that we were asked. Several years ago, Deep Ellum protested having a church in this arts and culture section of Dallas. But after years of working to improve our shared community, we earned their trust and a right to speak.

So Sunday's theme was love. The songs and poems people spoke of talked about true love, God's unconditional love for all people. Mimo (awesome songwriter/musician) performed one of my personal favorites "Let Justice Roll Down". Another musician, Ben, read a satiric modern day version of 1 Corinthians he had written, and my friend Justin (a founder of ArtLoveMagic) performed his spoken word poem about extravagant love. It was beautiful to take part in. Here's my poem:

I want to love and be loved

But my heart is scarred

I long to see clearly

But my vision is impaired

I'm handicapped by my humanity

This fog that surrounds me

Leaves me in shadows

My eyes can't penetrate

The layer of ignorance I walk in

I am lost and alone

Unable to help even myself

But your love pierces through my reality

And I realize how blind I've been

I have lived in a rainbow of gray

My passion is mediocre at best

Compared to your extravagant love

But in you, I am complete

Awakened to new life

New clarity, new colors, new hope

And though I am limited here

Held captive by my skin

Soon I will be unhindered

Fully embraced by you