Proselytizing

I’m minding my business
While out for a walk
When a man looks my way
Like he’s wanting to talk.

I notice some cards
He has clutched in his hand,
But I don’t know exactly
The speech he has planned.

As I pass, he calls out;
I catch only one word,
Which is “Jesus,” but though
That is all that I heard

I am certain he’d hoped,
With that one little blurt,
That I might be a person
Who’d like to convert.

I replied, with restraint,
(Not a semblance of cursin’)
“Oh man, you are reaching out
To the wrong person!”

Religious beliefs
(Or the lack of, as well)
Should be private, without
Any need to compel

Someone else to accept
Other faiths than their own;
So proselytizers –
Please leave me alone!
Copyright © | Year Posted 2022

Poem

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Krutsinger Avatar
September 28, 2022 at 10:01 AM
Hilarious! I see it and I scoff.
Watt Avatar
September 23, 2022 at 11:59 AM
agreed... i like your self-constrained reply and i think i shall use it next time i am being proselytized. kind of makes me wish there were a universally recognized hat or wristband we could wear in public that communicates "i'm content with my belief system"
Seeker Avatar
September 20, 2022 at 6:27 AM
Indeed, let the suggestion be not an imposition. However, in many cases religious belief becomes an obsession, negating other faiths completely, kind of my way or the highway approach.
Wolf Avatar
September 19, 2022 at 7:56 PM
I listened, only God knows why, to a Jesus freak once. It was in 1971. It changed my life -- for the better. Made me find out who I was and what I was. Yanevuhknow, as they say in Brooklyn...
Leffanta Avatar
September 19, 2022 at 6:07 PM
What God needs a mortal to convey a message? "Speak for yourself, John!" is as American as can be! No two people believe exactly the same, so ALL beliefs should be private and have nothing at all today with government, religion, nor society! That has worked for Native Americans since time immemorial! Mahalo nui loa! Aloha!
Cunningham Avatar
September 19, 2022 at 1:09 PM
Couldn't agree more Ilene, each to their own. Tom
Lawless Avatar
September 19, 2022 at 12:52 PM
AMEN TO THAT ILENE......
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