Jesus has left the Building

I went to the Church of St. Mary’s just up the road

I knelt outside the closed doors and I prayed

In front of that long unused church

But Jesus had left the building

There was no answer to my prayer

I went to the local Fundamentalist Baptist church

I joined the service there and I prayed

In the hard backed pew surrounded by grace

But Jesus had left the building

There was no answer to my prayer

I turned to the Episcopalians, the church of a friend

I sang the hymns and I confessed my sins as I prayed

The light from the stained glass streaming in

But Jesus had left the building

There was no answer to my prayer

I walked through the church of the great starry night

In the clear desert air and I prayed

On a rock in the sand surround by open space

But Jesus had left the planet

There was no answer to my prayer

I came upon the atheists who carefully explained

There is no god above to whom you have prayed

The answers come from inside my mind

There’s no Jesus to leave the building

And that was the answer to my prayer