Mercy Needs a Border

[Intro]
I keep a chair pulled out for every lonely heart
I keep a little mercy ready before the story starts

[Verse 1]
You called me from the laundromat
Your rent was late, your hands were cold
I drove across the county line
And let your whole hard week unfold
You said you’d only need a night
Then asked me what I thought of him
I gave you every honest inch
And watched my own room growing dim

[Pre-Chorus]
I know the ache behind your eyes
I know the words you couldn’t say
But every door I leave unlocked
Lets something of my own life slip away

[Chorus]
I can wish you well without giving you my heart
I can see your hurt and still know where I must part
Every soul deserves a kindness, every wound deserves some care
But I can’t make a home in every heart that needs me there

[Verse 2]
You cried beside the grocery carts
About the friend who let you down
I skipped the dinner I had planned
And drove you safely back to town
The next one swore he’d change by spring
The next had nowhere else to go
I learned to call my rescuing love
Before I knew what love should know

[Pre-Chorus]
Compassion isn’t a vow
To carry every weight alone
A hand can help you find the stairs
Without becoming your whole home

[Chorus]
I can wish you well without giving you my heart
I can see your hurt and still know where I must part
Every soul deserves a kindness, every wound deserves some care
But I can’t make a home in every heart that needs me there

[Bridge]
I’m not the cure for every ache
I’m not the answer to each plea
I’ll sit with you until the morning
But I won’t disappear to prove you need me

[Group Chants]
Care is not surrender!
Mercy needs a border!

[Final Chorus]
I can wish you well and keep my own heart in my hands
I can hear your hurt and still decline the role you planned
Every soul deserves a kindness, every wound deserves some care
I can love the world and choose the ones I carry there

[Outro]
I’ll leave a light on in my kindness
And keep my own door in my care