Manifesto of a Runaway Heart, Jonah Stafford

Jonah Stafford

The Lord knows I wasn’t raised this way But my runaway heart has gone astray

I refuse to let my heart hate as it did before It was always judge and be judged Until the boy next door is acting strange My heart still beats, but in a different way

In my dreams and in my mind There’s an aching feeling that something’s not right The meaning of love so harshly defned Is hatred and judgment God’s true design?

I believe most of all in the power of love Uniting us all with what’s above Instead of malalignment and shame We should all come together with compassion and faith

I’m done telling people they’ll go to Hell If it even exists, I’ll have my own cell For every person, their own path they must take And to make that judgment is not my place

But on the pulpit, the pastor was making those calls Till his very last sermon, preached the Lord’s law Bless the reverend who won’t do gay weddings And those who are different deserved their beheadings

I learned to move past those narrow defnitions Accepted my feelings and made a decision I’ll free my mind from the teachings that trapped me And not be afraid to love the one who’s before me

The Lord knows I wasn’t raised this way But my runaway heart has gone astray