I Should Shut Up

Last week someone told me that I shouldn't speak

Because I was a monster not by design

But by the way I define myself

Because I was found in Christ

They said I wasn't a lover but a liar and a hypocrite 

Because I said love your neighbor when I kicked those I'd knocked down

They told me I was better off dead or gone or isolated

Because there's no such thing as a good Christian

I think I cried

I can't remember if there were tears 

I was too busy to notice if my soul tried to escape my eyes

For I had to pray to a God that loved his children that couldn't see 

Because I thought I was good

Never had I ever told a person to die

I'd never called names or said bad words

I smiled in the halls and said I love you

Because I understood one thing if nothing else

God loves children no matter their race, religion, orientation

No matter their politics or dirty running

No matter their crimes or their abuses

Or even their hatred 

And I felt I had one thing that I must do

And that was love my neighbor

For a while, I stood on the edge of a knife

That seemed to cut deep so long as I didn't take the plunge

So I told God that if he didn't tell me what to do I didn't know if I would do right

I couldn't hear his answer because I was too afraid to listen

So I jumped and hoped

I ended up in a circle

There was a Muslim girl by me that said people thought she was a terrorist

A Jewish child told me others thought of him as part of the Jesus killers

A black boy said he'd gotten accused of stealing when returning a purse

An addict told me he didn't deserve to have the girl he loved

A girl said she used to be a boy

A bruised boy said he tried to get rid of his dad's alcohol stash

An Asexual said she isn't supposed to exist

A teenager told me he was a former bully that no one would give a second chance

A boy who'd been raped said he deserved it

An atheist told me she was going to hell

An autistic girl said she was retarded 

A homosexual told me his parents kicked him out

A woman said she will never be as strong as a man

I said I've been labeled

and they took my hand

After a week, a man told me I shouldn't speak

Because I was found in Christ

He said I didn't deserve a vote

Because I was a persecutor 

He said I deserve a noose around my neck and a blade against my skin

Because I didn't know what it felt like

He said that one day the ones I loved would leave me

Because I deserved it

I told him I loved him and so did God