“WE ACKNOWLEDGE AND BEWAIL…

OUR MANIFOLD SINS AND WICKEDNESSES!”

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So says the Hymnal Methodist,

Big words but this is the gist…

Confess and repent–

Be not content

Until the Son is kissed!

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Church says at least once yearly,

The Bible says daily–more often clearly–

Be reconciled

Whenever defiled,

If possible—do it early!

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Some emotional are,

Others barely jarred…

Do we say “bewail”

And all that entails

EACH TIME we take things too far?

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Ritual for ritual’s sake,

Repetition brings temptation to fake…

Made to repent

One will resent,

In tthe heart, repentance won’t take!

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How do maturer disciples

Get through these frequent cycles…

Expressed emotion

Faked as devotion,

The process taken as trifles?

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I am no master-mind here,

Perhaps my experience clears…

Questions of sense

With God’s grace immense,

The mystery revealed for years.

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I know when I’ve done,

Delibrately against God’s Son…

Acknowledged inside

Recognised  pride,

My Sin against the Holy One.

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His grace and mercy I plea

As well as my eternal need…

For all His grace

To see His face,

When from this world we are freed.

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Words are cheap without action

So I do what I must for traction…

Forgiving self

Is my wide gulf,

Must do it to God’s satisfaction..

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So acknowledge, repent, find release,

In time failure’s sadness will ease…

Can hardly forget

But next time be set

With precautions with which God is pleased.

–Jonathan Caswell