A Blessing for Traitors

Once you were committed.

You believed, sold-out, devoted.

Then you tasted, and your eyes opened,

And what you thought was real felt brittle, thin.

So you walked away, heading for a faint dawn on the horizon.

The sun never rose.

Still, you said this was more light than you had ever seen.

But after ravines and cliffs, you lost the trail in the dark,

And all you want is a home.

May you find footing in calling things their actual names—

Your beliefs, your actions.

You rejected the false, but also the true, and now

May you hold both to the light,

Feel the weight and substance.

May you come to your senses.

Do not mourn if you have fallen again and again,

“For forgiveness has risen from the grave.”

May the road home make itself known as you walk.

May you see the truth that is the truth that is the truth.

May you know the limitless grace available from

The father who watches the road for your return.

He waits, standing in light that does not condemn,

But reveals all rot so that it might heal.

He takes all treachery upon himself,

And destroys it.

Know you will not be destroyed, but welcomed.

Tyler Watson writes fiction and theology. He has served as a pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church and earned his MDiv from Fuller Theological Seminary. He has written one novel, The Gospel According to Doubters and Traitors, and several devotionals. You can find more about those works on this site.