Where Pain Fits

Churches
Don’t welcome
Pain
That lasts

They fight against pain

The same way
People in pain
Fight against pain
 
They just want it to go away

They rationalize it with
        It is for a greater good
They place blame with
        It is to discipline you
They deny it with
        God never gives
        more than you can handle
They minimize it with
        It is to refine you

They just won’t

Accept it
As is
Let it be

Churches

Acknowledge pain
Briefly
But they don’t
Allow it
To stay

That would be too messy

Would require them

To figure out
What it says about us and
What it says about God
When pain doesn’t leave
 
Churches
Don’t welcome
Pain
Because they haven’t
Figured out
Where pain
Fits

And as a result

They haven’t
Figured out
Where people in pain
Fit

And that’s a shame

Because this world
Is chock full
Of people in pain
That don’t fit anywhere
Who could really use
A place
To belong