Questions and Answers

Careless, I am reckless
I'm a wrong-way-travelin'-slowly-unraveling shell of a man
Burnt out, I'm so numb now
That the fire's just an ember way down in the corner of my cold, cold heart
Lord, this time I'll make it right,
Here at the altar I lay my life
Your kingdom come
But my will was done,
My heart is broken as I
Cry, like so many times before
But my eyes are dry before I leave the floor,
Oh Lord I try but this time, Jesus,
How can I be sure
I will not lose my follow through
Between the altar and the door?
(Casting Crowns; Between the Altar and the Door)

A broken ALTAR, Lord, thy servant rears,
Made of a heart, and cemented with tears:
Whose parts are as thy hand did frame;
No workman's tool hath touched the same.
A HEART alone
Is such a stone,
As nothing but
Thy pow'r doth cut.
Wherefore each part
Of my hard heart
Meets in this frame,
To praise thy name:
That if I chance to hold my peace,
These stones to praise thee may not cease.
O let thy blessed SACRIFICE be mine,
And sanctify this ALTAR to be thine.
(George Herbert; The Complete English Poems; The Altar)