Perhaps I Was Redeemed Too Young

 

Perhaps I was redeemed, at too young an age,

In movies it comes at the end of the story,

Your character arc arches toward the final stage,

It would undo all the narrative,

Perhaps rob it of some of the glory,

If our hero was left to grow old,

Letting the bitterness and cynicism unfold,

If the reformed romantic lead,

Grows disinterested, bored,

And finally leaves,

And I was redeemed too young,

Perhaps if the rapture, or Jesus had come,

Taken me from this life of temptation,

To dwell instead in this new heaven,

The arc would feel complete,

The boy swept off of his feet,

Rescued from a life of sin,

Though he barely understood where sin can begin,

In the smallest of smallish things,

That big sin was never what would conquer him,

But the desert of time was what would expose,

His heart to the elements,

The longer it goes,

The more the flaws are on show,

The desert deserts this desert rose,

For faith can flower a while,

But it's only faithfulness,

That can retain the smile,

I suppose this is where the lack,

Shows that I'm grown from the seed that fell in the cracks,

No roots you see, 

And the sun rose, and it scorched me,

It scorched me real good,

With no deep root in love,

I think I misunderstood,

Not rooted nor grounded in love,

Or at least not rooted deep enough,

And my youthful valour is all gone,

The hope I strung out, burned up by the sun,

And for a drop of moisture I've hung on,

But it's now that redemption should finally come,

And finish me off for good,

Instead of stretching me out between what I should and I would,

Well I suppose,

I suppose,

I suppose,

The older I get,

The more the grace grows,

And the glory is all yours for keeps,

If you can find any,

While the sower sows,

And the reaper reaps,