a hundred years of eternity

it’s hard to live here
this intersection of an eternity’s worth of hopes and
a hundred years’ worth of days
when the heart of God stirs deep soul-waters
ripples flow on and on, I chase them with my eyes
blinking reluctantly as they pass my horizon
into hearts and years beyond me

it’s hard to trust here
my line of sight broken by dark valleys
each switchback offering just a glimpse
up into a country I can scarcely imagine
knowing the way, I long to know the road’s end
my endurance comes up short-sighted
listening to the echo of each footfall

it’s hard to love here
where every beautiful thing seems to die
sin crouches to devour my best intentions
tenderly laid plans harden and crack with neglect
even so, your Love’s weight hangs in the air
I find no way forward but the demands of Love
and no way back at all

it’s hard to leave here
heart nostalgic for where your touch first awakened me
from this cleft I first adored you, Beloved!
your footprints guide me through the shadows
my eyes are dim now, but your face I will seek until I find
one day years must flee before the rising sun
eternity laid out, bright and horizonless Continue reading “a hundred years of eternity”

Shalom and the Sea

The Word of God creates
Potential and limits, bound up together
Like the edges of the sea, all glorious
Endless blue embracing the shore

When seas kick against the goads
We call their rebellion a disaster
The tsunami destroys, dishonors just limits
Breaking shalom with coast and village
We wail, send aid, pray

I once had a friend named Timo
He hated boundaries, down to the sign,
“No running by the pool!”
Pontificated long of the injustice of it all
How his own freedom could be curtailed
By law, by obligation to another

No one declared it a disaster
He did not hear the bonds of shalom break
The crack! of sin’s whip on the back of his soul
The wailers never arrived, nor help
I do remember saying a prayer
Longing for the unlimited horizon
Of a bounded sea

©2026 Jacqueline Tisthammer. All rights reserved.

Continue reading “Shalom and the Sea”