Prayer Of An Erring Minister Poem by Juvie Gubat

Send me not away from Your Presence!
If not to You, where else is it good to go?
If not with You, where else is it better to be?

If You will reject me, who will accept me?
I am naked and base.
I am foul and wretched.

Shall I run to men?
They have driven me away.
I am no good for them.

When the things they prized in me fell away,
And when the light of my glory darkened,
Men despised me utterly.

They have treated me like an animal.
Their corrupt eyes burrow into my soul.
They condemn me for the decays within me.

I am like a poison to those that belong to me.
My stench clings to them
And they curse me and deny me.

To the sinners, I have become their paragon.
Their gates are wide open to welcome me.
Their tables are laden with food for me.

But I do not desire their comfort,
Nor do I crave their food.
I abhor their company!

But am I not one of them?
No! No! I do not want to be one of them!
I choose to belong to You, my God!

Turn to me, oh God, and be merciful
For bereft of earthly and spiritual embellishments
I am lovable only to Your Perfect Eyes.