A SAVED GOSPEL?

“The Gospel is sweet, to them that know it, but to them that don’t know it, it’s bitter; hearts full of sin.” ~ Old Church Hymn
I have heard old men teach
In absurd parables like bad poetry
Yet I know,
I know of a poem,
Written in blood and God’s handwriting
Of defining myself by defying myself
So amid bitter cups of coffee, and glasses of wine
I’m still searching
Still finding and losing God.
Tell me what is faith?
What is salvation absent damnation?
Was the thief on Jesus’ right wrong?
And him on the left right?
“Both aching for self-preservation
Both believing in Jesus’s power.
One optimistic and selfless
The other pessimistic and selfish
And right before he died, Jesus took pessimism to paradise”
What Gospel makes right by the wrong strokes of others?
A saving Gospel? Or a Gospel that needs saving?
But still, I know,
Of a poem, marred by age
And human intervention
A poem; a memory
A soul transcending incarnation
So I remember paradise,
I remember losing
I remember finding God;
I remember a gospel of love,
Of grace, before and beyond the grave;
A saved gospel.