Jesus Did Not Come by Helen Losse

When things go wrong,
“they” act on their own experience
sometimes as former church-hoppers,
most often protestant. They call us
christians who are not “real Christians”
and hypocrites. They try to make us
judge who is and isn’t genuine.
Do they do this because “they are hurt?
We, too, are hurting. Do “they” think
the world’s ills do not concern us, too?
Everyone has been disillusioned, hurt,
forced at some point to buy bottled water
when no fresh supply gurgled from dry earth.
What I think they mean is, listen to this.
And yes, “they” are right, we should all listen
both to each other and to God. We should act
on what we know. History matters.
They should know we must include “they.”

There is a tenderness within us all,
but not all tenderness is visible.
Some keep their tenderness hidden.
Tenderness also resides in Jesus,
who was, in fact, the most tender man
of all. Remember the picture of Him
with those lovely children, those tiny lambs?
Yet God never said that tenderness
and understanding alone could save us
from either hell or each other.
What Jesus said was,
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life,
Follow me, Eat my flesh, and then only
to His disciples—Will you leave me, also?—
for the mob disbanded because His way
became hard to follow. Jesus did not come
to bring peace to all who live upon the earth,
at any cost, now. Without both our faith
and works, He brings violence
like the shifting of bones.