Judging, criticizing, and the tendency to condemn,
Happily pointing out the differences between you and them,
Not thinking twice about putting you in your place,
The problem here is, there’s no room for grace.

Prejudices of all kinds are the simple rule of thumb,
Leaving those attacked feeling defenseless and numb,
Hate crimes are random, perpetrators disappear without a trace,
In these lives, there’s no room for grace.

Intolerance, bitterness, divisions, and strife,
Come in and wreak destruction in many a life,
The abused wear sadness like a badge of honor upon their face,
The abusers have shown them, there’s no room for grace.

Hidden behind a mask of Christianity you’ll often find,
A hypocrite who’s behavior you want to leave far behind,
Bigotry is not narrowed to social class or race,
It only goes to prove, there’s no room for grace.

Gossip, back stabbing; whatever happened to the ‘Golden Rule’,
Where ‘do unto others’ was a creed taught even in school?
Enough ridicule makes one want to vanish into space,
Why do people do this? There’s no room for grace.

Grace is God’s unmerited favor, free for all to appropriate,
Where would any of us be if instead of love He’d shown us hate?
I’m grateful that at the moment Jesus looked death in the face,
He didn’t answer, “I’m sorry, there’s no room for grace.”

© 2001 by Kathi Toups KathisPlace2@aol.com