Where Can We Go?

The following is the text of the poem I read during worship on Sunday evening.

Where Can We Go?
By Jim Freeman
(For the Mo-Ranch Worship and Music Conference;
June 16, 2007)

When we come to ourselves,
where can we go?
If we feel like we’ve outlasted our usefulness or outstayed our welcome,
where can we go?
If we’ve fallen on hard times,
or fallen away,
or fallen by the wayside,
where can we go?
If we’ve lost our way or turned away,
lost our will or lost our nerve to do God’s will,
where can we go?
If we’ve lived to ourselves and not to God;
if we’ve made poor choices based on bad judgment;
if our human-ness has pulled us away from God’s desires for our lives;
where can we go?
If the dark night of the soul finds us grasping for what is right;
if the glaring lights of false prophets leave us aching for what is true;
where can we go?
We can go to the only place where we have ever been truly welcome;
we can go where our return is celebrated with waiting, open arms.
When we come to ourselves we can go beyond ourselves.

We can go to God.
©2007 James D. Freeman

My wife, Debbie, suggested the following structure if using the poem as a litany of confession. I think its a neat idea.

LEADER: When we come to ourselves,

ALL: where can we go?

LEADER: If we feel like we’ve outlasted our usefulness or outstayed our welcome,

ALL:where can we go?

LEADER:If we’ve fallen on hard times,
or fallen away,
or fallen by the wayside,

ALL: where can we go?

LEADER: If we’ve lost our way or turned away,
lost our will or lost our nerve to do God’s will,

ALL: where can we go?

LEADER: If we’ve lived to ourselves and not to God;
if we’ve made poor choices based on bad judgment;
if our human-ness has pulled us away from God’s desires for our lives;

ALL: where can we go?

LEADER: If the dark night of the soul finds us grasping for what is right;
if the glaring lights of false prophets leave us aching for what is true;

ALL: where can we go?

LEADER: We can go to the only place where we have ever been truly welcome;
we can go where our return is celebrated with waiting, open arms.
When we come to ourselves we can go beyond ourselves.

ALL: WE CAN GO TO GOD.
©2007 James D. Freeman