Confession Poem by Charles Darnell

Father,
I offer this confession in answer to the purpose of my life.
You sent me in your love before your people
To show them a path to Heaven.
I offered my life to teach your wisdom:
The greatest virtue is Love,
That each should do unto others
As all would want for themselves,
To clothe the naked,
To feed the hungry,
To shelter the homeless,
And to ease suffering as best can be done.

Father,
These simple lessons have been transfigured,
They are raised to Holy Script
And locked away in great books
And I too am raised up.
The graven calf has been cast down
And replaced with my haloed image,
And I am worshiped in its place;
As if it is enough for mankind’s happiness,
As if my life was too high to follow.

Father,
They raise me up as God
And worship the Idea,
For it is easier to worship the image
Than to live the words,
It is easier to drink the wine
Than to tend the vineyard.

Father,
They have turned my cross into a pedestal,
And my words they shape into a sword
And thrust them into men’s hearts.
They call me “Son of God”,
Yet so are we all, all your children.
They see it not:
It is too hard.

Forgive me Father, for I have failed you,
Forgive them Father, they know not what they do.