Elnora Jane

Elnora Jane steps into Sunday morning

With her Bible held tight like a shield.

She sings every hymn like a warning,

As if grace is a weapon she alone can wield.

Her smile looks gentle from a distance,

But it cuts when you stand too near.

She calls it truth, she calls it resistance,

But it feels like judgment dressed up as fear.

Chorus

Oh, Elnora Jane, you don’t see the stain

On the lace of your own white dress.

You talk about love while you’re drawing blood,

Calling cruelty righteousness.

God understands you’re lashing out in pain,

But matching hatred’s energy only drags you down again.

Love is the only thing that breaks the chain,

Oh, Elnora Jane.

She whispers about neighbors in the fellowship hall,

Says she’s “just concerned for their souls.”

But the stories she spreads leave a deeper pall,

And she never sees the hurt she unfolds.

She prays for the sinners she’s busy condemning,

Never wonders why they don’t stay.

She thinks she’s a lantern forever ascending,

But she’s blocking the light with the words she says.

Chorus

Oh, Elnora Jane, you don’t see the stain

On the lace of your own white dress.

You talk about love while you’re drawing blood,

Calling cruelty righteousness.

God understands you’re lashing out in pain,

But matching hatred’s energy only drags you down again.

Love is the only thing that breaks the chain,

Oh, Elnora Jane.

Bridge

One day she’ll hear a softer voice

Than the one she’s been calling truth.

It’ll sound like mercy, it’ll sound like choice,

It’ll sound like the love she never knew.

Maybe then she’ll lay her weapons down,

See the mirror without turning away.

Maybe grace will finally come around

And teach her how a heart can pray.

Final Chorus

Oh, Elnora Jane, you can wash the stain

From the lace of your Sunday dress.

You can trade that fire for a gentler choir,

Let compassion do the rest.

God knows the hurt that’s hiding in your name,

But only love can lift you from the weight of blame.

Mercy still waits at the edge of your shame,

Oh, Elnora Jane.