The Faithful Apostate

Insidious recusancy is

The soul's refusal

To kneel without surrendering.

In an earlier time, the recusant

At least confessed his division openly.

Bearing the cost of his conscience before God.

But this generation?

Its quieter defiance keeps the refusal and

Forsakes the honesty.

It comes to worship,

Lifts its voice in the psalm,

Bows at the appointed hour.

In other words,

It withholds the heart,

The one true offering that is asked.

Outwardly faithful,

Inwardly withdrawn,

It practices a secret apostasy and

Never confronts its own evil,

Because emptiness makes no sound.

So, the spirit hardens by degrees,

Mistaking habit for devotion and

Presence for love,

It is prayer without surrender.

A lamp left dusty on a shelf,

Its oil long since burned away, and

A flame only distantly remembered

It is communion without Communion because

The heart and the soul were

Sold to the darkest bidder.

Dark Interior of Church in Copenhagen

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