Go as You Are
A Poem inspired by The Great Commission
Go as You Are
After Matthew 28:16-20
You do not need to be great
to be called inward, upward, and out.
You do not need to live so fabulously
penitent that all creation and neighbors
know that you are a sinner, though you are,
as am I.
Go as you are.
Let the pilgrimage
and feast and dessert of
life be what it is, and
know, somewhere near
the trembling place of your chest,
that you are never alone.
Go with laughter—as if all you carry
is air. Allow the awe of your new life—so hidden and
alive and broken by the unseen realities
of which you tell—do the work.
Take the words of your story,
though just a working paper,
and find places with water
where God—Father, Son, Spirit—immerse family
in mystery, nearness, and welcome.
No matter who you are
no matter how doubtful and hesitant,
you must go and unite yourself
to the story of all stories.
You must go as you are.
—-
In this poem, I play with the phrase often heard in church, “Come as you are.” In my experience, God certainly welcomes me just as I am, but what is often more difficult to accept is that I am sent as I am.
It would be nice to have it all figured out, wouldn’t it? I would love to know what will happen tomorrow, and to take hold of all the good habits right before me.
Yet God must be a realist.
We do grow and trust God completely now and then, but what’s even more wonderful is God invites us even in messy moments and seasons.
God seems to think we are always good enough.
Thank you for reading, and I hope the words of my poem inspired you to go as you are this week.
A note about Mary Oliver’s influence in this week’s poem:
I often need inspiration when writing. This week, I stumbled upon one of Mary Oliver’s readings of Wild Geese. When you read that poem, you’ll notice that some of the lines and words are directly inspired by it. Oliver, in her poetry handbook, suggests that a way to grow in writing poetry—or writing in general—is by mimicking. I took that advice.