The Altar

A broken altar, Lord, thy servant rears,
Made of a heart and cemented with tears;
Whose parts are, in the steadfastness of love,
It fillets all the way up, even to love.
A heart whose love shifts and stirs,
Each moment’s pause reflected and sincere.
To build an altar fit for thee,
To bear the cross in love to be— The stone enshrined in obdurate faith.

• George Herbert