Not As A Thief Poem by moon batchelder

i sit surrounded by my gods
before the lord of hosts.
and ask 'must i surrender these
to come before thy throne? '
~
'my child, not as a thief to rob;
let not your heart dismay,
already you believe in god,
believe ye thus in me.
for not as a thief to rob, come i
forth from our common gate;
but came a willing sacrifice,
those reft of hope to save.

to those who know no god within,
to shew forth god without.
to those whose hearts grew faint and thin,
to manifest more perfect love.
an archer who has missed the mark
must own the space between
where aim was meant and arrow fell;
the same is called the sin.

so came i from our common home,
a marksman skilled in aim,
to teach the feebler archers how
to draw the sinew, thus i came.
for all who live are precious souls
who stand within god's heart.
and naught but one's own blinded will
has set the two apart.

not as a thief to rob, but a physician
sent to heal.
to bind their wounds and mend their blindness
came i to this world.
many mansions fill the great beyond
from whence we come.
not as a thief came i from thence
but to remind thee of our home.

let not, therefore, your heart dismay
for as the lotus flower,
one god, by many names is called;
and yet is one in power.