Post-GC Devotional: Faithful Protest

On the last day of GC, Karen Oliveto nudged me towards this poem by Italian writer Carlo Carretto. I hope it means as much to you as it does to me! ~Jeremy

How much I criticize you, my church,
and yet how much I love you!
You have made me suffer more than anyone,
and yet I owe more to you than to anyone.
    I should like to see you destroyed,
    and yet I need your presence.

You have given me much scandal,
and yet you alone have made me understand holiness.
Never in this world have I seen anything,
more compromised, more false,
    yet never have I touched anything more pure,
    more generous or more beautiful.
  
Countless times I have felt like
slamming the door of my soul in your face—
and yet, every night, I have prayed that I might die in your arms!
No, I cannot be free of you, for I am one with you,
even if not completely you.

Then too, where would I go?
To build another church?
But I could not build one without the same defects,
for they are my defects.
    And again, if I were to build another church,
    it would be my church, not Christ’s church.

No. I am old enough. I know better.

(cross-posted at Hacking Christianity)