Is There Life After Agape?
by Henry S. Juhala
(O'Fallon, IL USA)
The Boulevard calls
The Castro beckons
Greenwich Village entices
Neon lights
Suggestive postures
Alluring nights
The mind says no
The body says go
It cries, it longs, it searches
"I’ll never be lonely again, never again, since I’ve opened my heart's door to him"
"I beseech you, therefore, brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service"
"My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory"
"Peace, peace, wonderful peace coming down from the Father above"
Christian directives, promises
Intellectually and spiritually discernable
Yet the soul like fire burns
Raging and unbalanced
In religious realm, unfulfilled, it yearns
Word-washed mind
Prayer-purged heart
Crucified self
Forces the gap farther and farther apart
As the need gets bigger and bigger
Pastors where are you?
Elders can’t you understand?
Families won't you feel the cry of a weary, brokenhearted man silenced among all the gongs and cymbals?
Lonely in the crowds
Crying without tears
Hurting without pain
Body-crippling fears
Still searching for that one-minded intimacy
Family galore
Roommates by the dozen
Table-hopping socialite under the “Son” frozen
And strangled by repelling theological poles
‘Tis more blessed to give than to receive"
"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you"
"Delight thyself in the Lord and He will give thee the desires of your heart"
"Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh"
Grin-and-bear-it faith
Right-up-to-par allusions
Elastic-smile hallelujahs
And other Charismatic collusions
Conspiring judgment to already-bondaged legalism
Bloated and overenergized
Overfed and malnourished
Agape in abundance
Where once the spirit flourished the body and soul decays unto death
Where has all the phileo gone?
Where has all the eros gone?
Is there life after agape?©2011 Henry S. Juhala
