the church in the basement

when I was small my grandmother
used to tell us about the time when
our church would meet in her basement

they had no where else to go
so she opened her home to others
the way God opens his house to us

and I would imagine them
singing and praising in the cramped
dark basement raising their arms to Jesus

all the time wondering how
the lady who was the rock of our family
could also be the foundation of a congregation

as I got older the lessons she taught
became the building blocks for my life
and her love is now my foundation

and all these years later
she is up in heaven singing praises
with God sitting in the pulpit