I bear a briefcase glutted with folders of sentences.
I filed careless words
that people, loved or mistrusted alike,
dropped in a moment of conversation.
They never returned to pick them up.
I took them, no matter how partial
the phrase, and with them I cataloged
an encyclopedia of judgment.

grasping
my golden calf
of righteous standard
I turn from the Golgotha hill
smash
the tablets of stone
and write my own fingered commandments

How many faithful Bereans
take my unthinking verdicts of
his parenting, her style
and choose to release my law
before the Spirit-supplier, freedom-giver, Perfect Son?

desperate
I weep for approval
from myself
shift guilty censure outward
seeking
a comparison
that will save me

Could I too, choose to believe God
and have it counted to me as righteousness?

faith
settles my striving
in the living Word
– each demand from God Jesus walked and breathed –
my failure
greater than imagined in the face of the Holy
He replaces with victory.

Sadie Beery has recently been transplanted to Elnora, Indiana where she lives with her husband, Aaron, and interacts with the Elnora Bible Institute where he works. She loves poetry, good coffee, and Skype calls. Currently she works at a little thrift store, turning one man’s trash into another man’s treasure. She is excited about the adventure of life God is leading her on and longs know him better and do all things with excellence for His glory. Her dream is to one day publish a book, but right now she just tries to find time to clean the house.