{"id":1965,"date":"2022-07-29T10:28:56","date_gmt":"2022-07-29T17:28:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stevegillard.com\/erleichda\/?p=1965"},"modified":"2022-07-29T10:30:54","modified_gmt":"2022-07-29T17:30:54","slug":"return-to-sender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevegillard.com\/erleichda\/2022\/07\/29\/return-to-sender\/","title":{"rendered":"Return To Sender"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\n <\/p>\n

Return To Sender<\/strong><\/p>\n

Early on
\nI was instructed to
\n\u201cgive my life to
\nthe Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n

I did my best –
\nthe way I wrapped it
\nmay have been
\na little sloppy,
\nI was just a kid –
\nbut I sent it
\nFirst Class.<\/p>\n

I was told
\nthe Lord would
\ntake care of
\neverything,
\nin exchange for
\nmy obedience.<\/p>\n

I confess
\nthere have been times
\nI\u2019ve been,
\nto say the least,
\npuzzled by the
\noutcomes of this
\nmicro-management,
\nbut I chalked it up to
\nmy obviously inadequate
\nobedience.<\/p>\n

Awhile back
\na package was
\ndelivered –
\nall I saw was a flutter
\nof wings.<\/p>\n

The label said,
\n“Return to Sender.”
\nInside was a message:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been trying to
\ngive your Life
\nback to you
\nfor decades, but<\/p>\n

you seem to
\nhave been
\nhiding.<\/p>\n

We love you
\nand your good
\nintentions,
\nbut you were meant
\nto have
\nyour Life.<\/p>\n

No worries.
\nYou\u2019ve got some
\nyears left.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no end
\nof adventures:
\nFunny ones,
\nscary ones,
\nsome that will
\nleave you breathless,
\nwith your viscera
\noverflowing with
\neuphoria.
\nBut you\u2019ll need to
\ntake your Life back.<\/p>\n

We hope you\u2019ll
\nforgive us for
\nhaving a bit of
\nfun
\nwatching you
\ntry to be
\nobedient.<\/p>\n

All our love.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Photo by Kira Aufderheide; UnSplash)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Return To Sender Early on I was instructed to \u201cgive my life to the Lord.\u201d I did my best – the way I wrapped it may have been a little sloppy, I was just a kid – but I sent it First Class. I was told the Lord would take care of everything, in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poems"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t