red-handed

I was caught red-handed,

taking from the collection plate

in a Sunday morning service

where I showed up ten minutes late

I was eleven years old

I was saving for a skateboard

for my teenage years

it was more than I could afford

I saw the money

right in front of me

I looked around

there was no one to see

I took my right hand

and grabbed it

I was thinking this might

become a habit

I thought I got off scot-free

but I was mistaken

I learned there were consequences for

the money that I had taken

the pastor saw me leaving church

he said "I've seen all you do

the time has come to repent

son, it's all up to you"

visions of hell entered my brain

guilt was all around me

everything bad I ever did

all came back to surround me

I told myself to settle down

but it didn't do any good

I was sure I was condemned

for not doing what I should

I took the money from my pocket

I said "I don't want it now

I only want the kind of things

that Jesus would allow"

if it hadn't happened then

it would have some other time

and that's the entire story of

my big career of crime