Pam's Perambulation

Who can come?
Who is it for?
Who can be here?
Who is able to stay?

This is your Temple Lord,
your holy place.
Who is welcome?
Is it for me?
What do I need to do?
What are you asking
of those who want to be with you?

You need obedience,
a willingness
to do what you ask,
what you need,
to follow your ways.
This place,
here in your holiness,
is for truth,
not hearsay,
conjecture,
muck-raking,
or downright lies.
It is a place
to build people up,
not knock them down;
to be fair
and honest,
not economical
with the truth.

You demand respect,
not for yourself,
but for those we live amongst,
who help us,
provide for us,
those we see
and those we don’t.

You need us to keep our promises,
better to say nothing
than to promise
and not deliver.
You are not looking for empty words,
meaningless platitudes,
commitments
that come to nothing.
Words cost,
and we need to be willing
to pay the price
of what we say we will do.
Cheap options
are not your way,
but the way of sacrifice,
inconvenience
and honour.

These things are holy Lord,
the things you ask
of those
who want to be with you,
to live your ways,
to be in your presence,
day by day.

Psalm 15 (CEV)