By God's Grace - written by Austin Darnell, performed by the Darnell Boys

An emphatic breach

An emphatic breach                                                                                

In the pouring rain, the old man said,

I do not get wet and one day,

not as theory or concept

but, in a clear, emphatic breach,

I answered, of course, of course.

Somewhere from a dry, rustling field

where he stood and spoke,

the words reached me

over thirty years but more –

over centuries and continents,

oceans and dynasties –

a crack of the door,

the stones of the temple

and the lush gardens behind the walls;

the crumbling old myths.

The earth shook, dislodged a stone,

the shift of an ancient foundation

upon which everything I am

and seem to be, everything

I know and seem to know, rests.

O child of God, the flowers of the garden

unfold strictly according to God’s schedule.

By the way

By the way                                                                                                          

You and I are on a first name basis.

I’ve grown up with this intimacy –

praying as a child each night

for You to take and keep my soul,

allaying with Your name

my fear of death and harm.

Yesterday, I heard part of a speech

by a famous crusading atheist.

He’s made God the center of his life.

No one gets around You.

Everything is a part of Your work.

Every sin, every blasphemy, every ignorance

as well as every revelation and act of compassion

brings us closer to You. 

God, by the way, is the only One

with the infinite breadth of knowledge

required to know for certain

whether or not God exists.

O child of God, running from the Everything

is just another route into His arms.