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”
Tag: Encounters with Jesus
God in all the Wrong Places
In the interest of simplifying Advent, this week is a re-post of my favorite Advent blog from last year! Blessings to you as you find small ways to rest in this season.
“Oh no, for real?” I thought to myself as the band began to play. “Of all the Christmas songs, why this one? Can’t we sing “Oh Come Emmanuel” or something? This is a kid’s song…”
Despite my internal protests, the drums beat steadily, soon followed by the incessant refrain: “PA RUM PUM PUM PUM.”
And then I started to cry. Continue reading “God in all the Wrong Places”
Walk With Me
Walk with Me awhile, beloved
This is what I made you for
To feel the breeze upon your skin
And linger here at Glory’s door
Where every breath is peace inhaled
And heav’n itself but thinly veiled Continue reading “Walk With Me”
Taste and See
A few days pass, and the longing returns. That well-known ache reaches way down, past the pit of my stomach and into my soul. Continue reading “Taste and See”
Manger Song
When we find our wells of Peace have run dry
The world, within and without, misaligned
Into despair, the Incarnate Child
Brings his Hope and his Way Continue reading “Manger Song”
God in all the Wrong Places
“Oh no, for real?” I thought to myself as the band began to play. “Of all the Christmas songs, why this one? Can’t we sing “Oh Come Emmanuel” or something? This is a kid’s song…”
Despite my internal protests, the drums beat steadily, soon followed by the incessant refrain: “PA RUM PUM PUM PUM.”
And then I started to cry. Continue reading “God in all the Wrong Places”
Word Incarnate
The Word that spoke the world
Entered it
Author existing in his own story;
choosing to be part of its limited scope,
it’s half-developed language,
its inescapable plot. Continue reading “Word Incarnate”
Delight
A young child dissolved in giggles at his very first joke,
repeating the punch line in sheer bliss
A red-cheeked adventurer standing high above the town
on a sapphire-blue morning, enraptured in the frosty air Continue reading “Delight”
Ask Me a Question…
The most important questions cannot be asked with a
what,
when,
where,
why,
how.
The fundamental questions require a Who. Continue reading “Ask Me a Question…”
In the Light of Dawn
An expectant mood permeated the room. Seven men, all of them close friends of Jesus, sat waiting. Continue reading “In the Light of Dawn”
In Pursuit of More 