Left Behind

Unless you change your ways

You will be left behind.

Unless you deny your reality

You will be left behind.

Until you see truth as I see truth

You will be left behind.

All of us have heard those warnings,

All children hear this message,

No one has escaped the threat of

Being left behind, thus

All of us know its pain.

Ethnic minorities have been left behind

Indigenous people have been left behind

Women have been left behind

Children have been left behind

Poor people have been left behind

Gay people have been left behind

Losers have been left behind

Religious minorities have been left behind

Atheists have been left behind

The question of who’s in and who’s out, however,

Has no theological basis,

Communities and tribes can debate whom to exclude,

Humans seem compelled to leave some behind.

God, on the other hand, cannot and does not,

God being God.

When I allow God access to my heart, and

I see one whose turn it is to feel left behind

I can reach out.

When I allow God access to my heart, and

I see a group of people who feel left behind

I can step out and stand beside them.

Oh God, please, open my heart.