The Reluctant Christian Reflects

The Reluctant Christian Reflects

Must it all be to your glory?
Is there not one part of this story
I can call my own
if I’m to claim my wretchedness
and confess
your glory?

Can’t I have but one bright spot,
supply one tiny beam of my own,
a flashlight to illumine the sun?

Ah,
I see.

But I still am not content
to be some silver serving tray
reflecting that which quenches.

I am afraid of that which wrenches
self from self, me from mine
. . . that which refines.

– A.M. Otwell, 2008