“Be Ye Therefore Perfect”
(Matthew 5:48)

By Michelle Hamby

My hands

Do not

Carry the calluses of carpentry,

The symbols of salvation,

The power of creation.

My feet

Have not

Been bathed in tears,

Walked the path alone,

Supported the sins of humanity.

My mouth

Does not

Speak the purity of truth,

The forgiveness of souls,

The knowledge of eternity.

My heart

Was not

Stilled, then beat again,

Broken to make mankind whole,

Is not filled with the surety of my own self.

Perfect is to carry through.

I cannot redeem the sinner.

But I can love him even in his guilt.

I cannot raise the dead.

But I can sit with the dying.

I cannot heal the wounded.

But I can listen to their cries.

I cannot make whole body or spirit.

But I can hold them in their brokenness.

And in my flaws—

I act as proxy

Hands, feet, mouth, heart—

I can be

Even as He is.