Mind-Boggled

His mind bent with the weight
of final moral judgments but he bore
his burden with assurance.
Though he spoke with conviction
contradictions troubled him
and a fiery sermon urging dissent
might be followed by a plea
for humility and obedience.
Not that he believed God carried water
on both shoulders but he craved
defense against censure and ridicule.
He struggled for balance but
celestial intimacies did not always
improve domestic occasions. The walls
of his mind kept tumbling down
before the trumpet call of the Gospels.