> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smoothpebbles.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Great Words Recast
- URL: https://www.smoothpebbles.org/great-words-recast/
- Published: 2026-01-31T02:35:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-04T02:35:50.000Z
- Author: Richard Flanders

Listen for great words recast:

> Love  
> Justice  
> Mercy

They once strode the earth barefoot, calloused,  
their hands scarred from lifting the fallen,  
their eyes steady enough to look upon guilt and still command change.

They sound different now,  
softened, perfumed,  
taught to whisper, taught to soothe,  
taught never to interrupt a feeling,  
never to say No, never to draw the line that saves.

O Love! once fierce as covenant,  
now you are asked only to approve,  
to nod, to cradle, to bless whatever enters the room  
so long as it weeps convincingly.

O Justice! once blindfolded to see straight,  
now you avert your gaze entirely,  
lest you notice the broken jaw,  
or ask who swung the fist.

O Mercy! you once knelt in the dust,  
named the wound, cleansed it, bound it tight,  
and warned the hand that caused it  
now you hover, anxious, apologizing for existing.

I see a new faith rise  
not carved in stone but streamed in pixels,  
its creed written in moods,  
its sacraments administered by applause.

I see crowds of the well-intentioned,  
souls radiant with moral warmth,  
feeling righteous, feeling pure,  
while the streets grow harder, colder, sharper.

I see laws loosened like belts after a feast,  
boundaries mocked as cruelty,  
guards dismissed so the gates may feel inclusive,  
and the weak told their suffering is progress.

I see the old disciplines mocked as violence,  
the old warnings labeled hate,  
the old courage replaced with careful phrasing,  
and truth asked to speak only if it trembles.

O nation, O world  
you mistake the comfort of kindness  
for the labor of goodness,  
you choose the pleasant song over the costly hymn.

For I tell you  
love that never wounds cannot heal,  
mercy that never restrains cannot save,  
justice that never judges cannot protect.

I see a counterfeit light,  
bright enough to blind,  
warm enough to seduce,  
gentle enough to disarm every defense.

It smiles as it dismantles,  
it blesses as it breaks,  
it promises peace while dissolving the pillars  
that once held the roof aloft.

And yet  
the old words still stand,  
waiting to be spoken whole again,  
waiting for voices strong enough  
to love without lying.

I call for that love  
broad-chested, clear-eyed, unashamed—  
that dares to say this is wrong  
because it longs to say this can be made right.

Let the feelings pass like weather,  
let the applause fade,  
but let truth walk freely among us again,  
and let love be heavy enough  
to guide the lost soul home.