Saints and Sinners

When somebody yields to temptation
    And breaks one of man’s or God’s laws,
We look for no good in his make-up,
    But oh! how we look for the flaws! 

No one cares about how he was tempted,
    Nor praises the battles he’s fought;
His name becomes food for the jackals --
    For us who have never been caught.

“He has sinned!” we shout from the house-tops,
    We forget the good deeds he has done,
We focus on that one lost battle,
    And forget all the times he has won.

“Come, gaze at the sinner!” we thunder,
    “And by his example be taught
That his footsteps lead to destruction!”
    Cry we who have never been caught.

I’m a sinner, O Lord, and I know it,
    I’m weak, I blunder, I fail.
I’m tossed on life’s stormy ocean
    Like ships embroiled in a gale.

I’m willing to trust in Thy mercy,
    To keep the commandments Thou’st taught,
But deliver me, Lord, from the judgement
    Of saints who have never been caught!

- Changu Chilwesa
Saints and Sinners
July 27, 2012