You are not called
to slavery; you are
called to freedom,
the shackles dropping
from your wrists and
ankles, the darkness
dispelled, the door
opened to the light.
Your call: the freedom
to serve one another,
to love one another.
That is the call you
heed, and that is
the call to which
you adhere. It is
the call to life.
Photograph by John Salvino via Unsplash. Used with permission.
You were running the race,
and running well, feet
in motion and eyes
on the goal. The end,
the finish line, was
in sight. And yet
you stopped, attention
diverted to another
goal, another song,
seductive but false,
a siren singing
to attract the ear and
betray the heart. Was
the song that compelling,
that attractive, even
when your heart knew
better?
Photograph by Milan Degraeve via Unsplash. Used with permission.
Once free, once
unchained to discover
what life is intended
to be, why return
to the yoke of slavery?
Why return the chains
to your ankles and wrists?
Why embrace the overseer’s
lash?
To return to what
you’ve been freed from,
to fall down and again
worship what put you
in chains, severs you
from freedom and
its grace. It is not
a chain that saved you.
Photograph by Rolandas S via Unsplash. Used with permission.
