I saw jesus being evicted today
and at the very moment i saw
a broken cross
lying next to some folding chairs
watched over by an old woman
muttering
"praise the lord"
I knew.
I knew this world has only one god.
Money
Sucked from the sweat and blood of my fellow workers
or from the drugs they use to ease the pain
And this god money, is evil
putting profits before people,
putting cold, hard, cash before
education, healthcare, and housing
stealing food from children's hungry mouths
and hope from dying souls.
And the only answer I could see
was for me to grab your hand
and you his and hers and theirs
And for us take back the world we have created
every factory, field, hospital, and school
For us to lift our voices
in a cry that said all at once
we've had enough, we won't take anymore
a cry so loud the walls came crashing down
As I continued to pick my way through jesus's chairs
and books and crosses
eyes cast down
I felt my hand glued to my sides with fear
I saw jesus being evicted today
Now I stand before you,
open heart and mind and full of hope
voice rising in my throat
I reach out my hand
--Megan Marshall is Coordinator of the Chicago YCL club.
One morning as I walked to work I saw a small store front church being evicted. It wasn't the rich kind of church with velvet pews and beautiful stained glass windows, but the kind set up by people in the community to give themselves some hope. A place to congregate, socialize, and support each other. Well, they couldn't pay the rent. Around my way I see people getting evicted all the time, and I am always outraged at the thought that money is more important than someone having a place to live. Still this church eviction struck me, one because it was the first I had ever seen, but second because with all of the talk about good christian values I had to wonder how Newt Gingrich and his GOP crew could rationalize this. And it was more proof to me of what I already knew. That if we want better lives and better communities, we have to fight the system that is already fighting us.
-M.M.
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Dynamic Magazine
