Thursday, October 24, 2013

great big things from a great big God



Dawn drove out the lurking mists
And dispersed them from the crags;
But they uncoiled with snarling lips
And promises of worse displays-
To return in greater number and confound your sailing ships. 





Fog and murk, breath and vapor-
Dark inhabitants of cliff-
Still obeyed the voice of sunrise
And backed down the cracks of earth,
Falling through the floor to dimmer
Chasms where they may regather and make ready haunting weather.

But thaw, unravel, purr and sway;
Safari dazzles darker worlds away.

Now unfurl your bright sails blithely
And you, too, spirit away.
  Trek and journey, awe and wonder,
Sludge through marsh; and merge together
Imagination's revelry
With explorer's mystery.
 Drift through watery fingertips,
The undisturbed glassy globes
Of diamond dew bedecking unbent blades.

Take it in with silent breath,
Then breathe out your atoned theft
Of untrod valleys, untouched trees,
The rush of wind that otherwise
Had been estranged from such community.
There are no wrong directions with discovery as the end,
And discovery laughs and hides throughout the brink of nomad roads.

With your sure footfalls moths glide upwards,
Spiraling off to safer lairs; flights altered drowsy by the distanced tide
Of sunlight's gaze now shifting sideways,
Slanting through each face of ivy, slinking down each canopy,
 Blinking, arcing, whispering, calling-
Urging you to exhale doubt unto the glowing hour. 
Vines which long have hung suspended masquerade amongst the hum as
Chandeliers, who, unbefriended, have been content to live suspended in placid soliloquy. 



  Doting wind picks up your hair,
Half lifts it, and holds it there
In sighing levitation.

A gleam plays off the wall of woods
From dragon's eye; and with that stumbling revelation
Comes the wayward recollection of the words
You regret to having let sprite away so lightly.
The blinding cloud sinks over you
Of dragon's breath, the mist proved true;
It settles thick till you're unglued
From all but cold reality seeping deeply to your bones
That all these leaves just left you for the ground. 


I have not words with wing enough to carry them to heaven,
But I have reasons without want to swell with hope a prayer up
That God Himself descends and lifts our thoughts and selves to sanctuary.

Let love grow bold, let hope sing clear
And dare to ask that Holiness draw near;
As if they've known the golden hush before  
And now would haply meet again,
 Just to gaze upon the solid assurance of His fixed resplendence,
And such it is that smooths out your stormy fears to tranquil togetherness. 

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Reveal

Sometimes when you're driving down the road in silence as the sun is setting
you get a little revelation.

Sometimes before the revelation comes, comes the reality that your life is pretty hectic and confusing.
Out of control, really.
Once again the plans you rely on- the things you want- are turning to vapor in your fists. 


Things just aren't going your way.
Nothing is, in fact.

     You know better than this.  You know how great your God is; you've seen Him move before.
So now that you've tried out your way and remembered that it doesn't work,
it's time to bring in the big gun.
Add a bit of God to the mixture.  Start making some time to ask for God's help.
You think that adding more of Him into your life is going to help clear the water.

Help get that supernatural control into your hands. 

But you're wrong.

You forgot to calculate the real issue, and you're shocked to find out that
God is not the secret ingredient.
You feel pretty surprised at this and maybe let down, maybe a little annoyed that God didn't patch things up for you like you expected.
Your faith is a little disappointed . . . but then this was never faith in God after all, was it.
Wasn't it faith that you could control what God has for you?
Suddenly this whole idea seems a bit messed up.

But then you drive a little farther and finally your perspective wakes up
when Truth gives you a healthy slap to the face.
Time to stop spinning your life around, time to stop throwing it all together and hoping something perfect is going to come out.
Time to stop putting God in the mix to make sure things turn out right.

Time to let God do the mixing.




Friday, September 6, 2013

Raw Fathoms

So last night we went to the beach, and I had a good time taking pictures.
I couldn't help but put these up unedited, because raw ocean has a gaze of its own. 





Because from a distance, the sea just is.  
But then you go there, and there is nothing else but the whisper of water
and the myriad of tiny peaks jutting up and then dipping back under, glances from disappearing scales.
Rocks spit up foam and sands drain down into the roiling mouth of the next gapping build. 
The ocean swells and recedes, and you, too, sigh along with every breath. 

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty!  Psalm 84:1
There's only one way to God, but you can find Him everywhere.
Psalm 42:8
By day the Lord directs His love,
    at night His song is with me—
    a prayer to the God of my life.