An Analysis of Worship Today

An Analysis of Worship Today

Griffin Messer

Mom,

You raised your hands while we sang this morning
like I’ve never known you to,
but I guess until recently I’ve never really known you in a church that let you feel alive.

I’m sure the last one did before it faded,
but I was too young to distinguish church from habitual gathering
and they wouldn’t have taught me grace if they’d wanted to,

and that was before I cracked our lives apart.

But it was then, wasn’t it, in the aftermath, that I saw more of your layers
and saw that they were tapestries,
punctured a thousand times and intricate,
majestic, though they’ve been torn.

Were you tired of hiding,
or just tired?

Thank you for letting yourself be seen

Thank you, Lord, for her.

---

Griffin Messer
Poet

Griffin's work can be found in the Cedarville Review and Havik Journal. He writes to capture rhythm and sound and recovery. When he's not writing, he may be found making dinner for his wonderful wife.

Photography by Alessia C.