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You Do You

God’s willing to let you do you
despite the fact it pains Him to
since you’ll go where you should not go,
and do much worse than stub your toe
then, when you do, you’ll curse His name
although it’s you who you should blame.
You’ll ask how could a God who’s good
allow these problems if He could
have waived a wand or said a word
that instantly would have deterred
you from the pain you just now felt
and changed how every card was dealt
so, each step taken would be planned
to always follow His command.
Just like a robot when controlled,
you would have done as you’d been told
and you would not have stubbed your toe,
but you would ask to be let go
so you’d be free to go fulfill
the choices made by your free will.
If He refused, you’d curse His name
so, either way, He’d get the blame
but He accepts abuse from you
as any perfect Dad would do.
He laughs with you, cries when you cry,
He’s always with you, so close by.
Although He’s there, He stays unseen
and He won’t ever intervene
until you knock upon His door
and then, when He hears you implore,
He’ll open His door right away
and then you’ll hear your Father say
“At last, you’ve come to Me by choice.
Now all in heaven can rejoice.”

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Warren Bonham is a private equity investor who lives in Southlake, Texas.

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10 Responses

  3. Shamik Banerjee

    I love this piece—a simplified way to understand free will and its importance. Thank you, Mr. Bonham.

    Reply
    • Warren Bonham

      I’m glad you enjoyed it! The discipline of meter and a rhyming scheme makes things harder to write but it forced me to simplify and distill my thinking here.

      Reply
  4. Margaret Coats

    Just marvelous, Warren. Starting with, “God’s willing,” you paint a picture of the Father in many quick strokes, giving plenty of detail about how His loving will allows us to live it up and blame Him, blame the world, blame the government, blame the church, blame the neighbors, blame the exploiters, blame just about anybody except poor little me, and then run back home to the perfect Dad who accepts all the abuse yet keeps the door open. Free will is a big theme, but what you achieve here is even bigger and more elusive, in an easily comprehensible portrait of God and His will as Father.

    Reply
    • Warren Bonham

      That is a great summary of what I was trying to say here. Thanks for that. Actually being a parent makes it a somewhat easier concept to glimpse but we do that so imperfectly that it’s really hard to wrap our brains around how far a truly perfect parent would go for their children.

      Reply
  5. Yael

    What an amazing poem which paints a beautiful picture of our Heavenly Father’s loving character in a way that’s easy enough for little children and rebels without a clue to understand. I’m going to print this out and hand it out to certain family members who like to blame God and others for the poor choices they make in life. This poem says it much better than I could explain it to them, thank you.

    Reply
    • Warren Bonham

      Thanks so much for the kind comments! I’ll add in a prayer for your family members. I truly hope you’re able to nudge them in the right direction.

      Reply

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