Scott Simpson · Poetry

The Idol of Gratitude

Restoration Blues · source pages 7

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Source page 7

Thank you, God, for the house,

for the car, for the steady job—

for all the ways I am not

like them, outside, hungry,

wondering if the prayers

they whisper at night

fall on deaf ears.

Gratitude can be an idol—

a wall, not a window,

a way to pretend

God only loves those

who have their act together.

If thankfulness doesn’t lead to love,

it’s just another gilded calf,

another way to praise myself

while calling it worship.