What is Your Religion - Poem by Raymond A. Foss

Where is your treasure,
what is your religion
deep down, at your very core
This question reverberating
calling from within the words
the scripture, the lesson
the stories of this country
this state, living without religion
without a true grounding in faith
Succumbing to the temptations
the desires of the flesh
the thrill of the seduction
the cry of the American dream
Forgetting our brothers, our sisters,
ourselves in the pursuing
the believing in consumption
the illusion of possessions
when our hearts
should be focused on the Lord
His example in suffering
his walking on the earth
leading to the cross, the grave
just like his humble birth
Not a king on the throne
the thorns, the taunts instead
A simple life of ministry
so that all may be saved from sin
Our days numbered before we were born
our lives known before they were begun
The potter, the savior calling us
from the coma of consumption
the religion of credit
an instant gratification,
a life eternal instead

November 1, 2009
Ecclesiastes 5:8-15
Psalm 15 (Psalter)
& sermon, “Oh For the Simple Life . . .”
by Pastor Ruth L. Foss
http://www.suncookumc.org
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
11/1/09
All Saints Day
http://www.gbod.org/worship/default.asp?act=reader&item_id=19864&loc_id=9,612,32,52
Her sermon is the first of a four-part series based in part on
Reverend Adam Hamilton (http://www.cor.org/about-resurrection/adam/)’s book,
“Enough: Discovering Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity” (http://www.cokesbury.com/forms/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=9781426702334)