the invisible number: a poem

what is the number now?
how high has it gotten?

that I have let that many slip away
because I was
too preoccupied
with my own distractions,
tribulations,
diversions,
pleasures,
selfish desires
to let them slip by
unnoticed.

how many times
was I
in the right place
at the right time,
and yet,
never said a word?

never told a soul
the Good News?

kept my mouth shut
and walked on by?
or had
better things to do,
than to save their souls?

to merely say the words:

a man 2000 years ago,
died on a cross,
so that you may live
in eternity.

how hard is that?

and yet I find myself
failing to do it
daily.

how many souls
have I
let slip into Hell
because I didn’t mention
the Gospel
to the people
who needed
to hear it?

how many
have I let
take the wide gate
to destruction
and damnation
with everlasting
separation
from the Father,
never to feel love’s embrace
again?

I fear
to see the tally.

oh Lord, have mercy!

mercy for this muted
son of Yours.

I’m
as silent as a stone.
as silent as the grave.

mercy, oh Lord
please!

arise, oh courage!
ignite, oh passion!
spur me to love!

to tell others
that the God of Heaven
and Earth
gave His life
in the form of a man,
forsaking all things
so that we may spend
the rest of infinitude
with Him,
basking in His glory.

and to tell them:
nothing. else. matters.

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this is a poem from my book bearing the burden of existence, available on Amazon.