My Heart in a Jar

My heart in a jar;
sitting on my shelf.
"Do you love me?"
It asks, innocently enough.

I've filled it with words of others;
of affirmations and denials--
the words of mere mortal men.

My heart in a jar;
sitting on my shelf.
But who am I to think
that I can control such a wild thing?
Telling it what to feel
based on the words of mere mortal men.

And if God is my Creator,
who wove me in the womb;
who am I to think
that I can even hold
power over a wild thing
that is His and not mine to mold?

If God is my Maker,
my Father,
my Lover;
is it God I have placed in a jar
sitting on my shelf?
Who am I to think
that God is someone to manipulate?

And think of the words
of those mere mortal men.
Think of the power
I hold over them.
If God is Creator
and Master
of all;
Who am I to think
I wield power over them?

My heart.
My God.
Their words.
Temporal power.
Eternal darkness.
All in a jar
sitting on my shelf.

Oh God, what am I doing?
Cleanse me of this Idolatry!!

Slips of paper in a jar;
set free to the wind.
The jar--
my idolatrous scepter--
set free to the river
and back to my Maker.

Oh God, my dear God:
Forgive me my sins.
Oh God, my dear God:
I place my heart back in your hands.
Oh God, my dear God:
I trust that You are in me and I am in You.
Oh God, my dear God:
my heart will be satisfied--be my All in All.