Eternity in Your Eyes

Alone I stand

open heart, open hands

Eyes blinking at

the startling splendour

of Your light

Heart pounding in my chest

Your voice

resonates

in my bones

Everything, everyone

falls away

Until

There is just You & me.

I see eternity in Your eyes

Feel weightless in Your love.

Completing the Song

Lightning

Never

Strikes twice-

So they say.

Caught in the

Deluge

Do we run for cover

Or shall we

Dance

In the rain?

We laughed

at thunder,

danced

in the rain...

Drank the sweet wine of friendship & love

And when sun

shattered clouds

Rainbow's end was in sight

Rainbow's end is gold to me

Golden memories and

Golden thoughts to me and thee.

Travelling to golden sand.

Sun and stars,

The moon an opal

In my hand

Treasure untold.

Lightning flashes,

thunder roars

we dance

I made public the first part of this piece a couple of weeks ago, and went on in the post to discuss the importance of living life in the moment, of not waiting for second chances or better opportunities. But even as I chose to post it I knew it was not quite done. Truth be told I rarely think any of my work is "done", but sometimes you just have to call it, let it stand as it is & hope for the best. But I knew there was more to this piece, not just the tweaking of words & phrases, but more lines, more to the story. And isn't that true of all of us? There is always a little more to the story, a little more to be said.

I sent my few lines on to a friend who sent back a few lines of his own-His lines were the bridge I needed, a few more lines and the song swelled to a lovely coda.

Like my simple verse that needed just the right bridge, one I couldn't find on my own, so too, at times our lives require us to reach beyond ourselves and allow someone else in. We complete each others songs. No comma, no semicolon is insignificant. Any writer knows the right punctuation, the right phrase turns the whole piece. We are not all verbs, or adjectives, perhaps I am just a comma, a necessary reminder to pause, to breathe.

Take the Stopper Out

Here,

On this barren landscape,

Earth trembles, heaves beneath my feet.

The stones we have placed with such care’

No match for the coming storm-

Your power unleashed,

Vehement gifts

No longer contained

no longer denied

The time has come-

Let go, give ourselves,

Give myself, to You

Beneath fireworked sky

One small sprig pushes aside cracked soil

Unfurls itself in

Newdawn sun

Reaches, unimpeded

Toward Heaven.

As I was writing this, or rather sharing it with a friend, my vision, for lack of a better word, expanded even further. This piece is my attempt to paint a picture of the vision I saw yesterday morning during worship, extended this morning as I continued to try & grasp what it might mean (the second stanza)

I wrote to my friend "The time has come for all of us to stop trying to stopper His gifts to us, to let them flow, put them into service." As I wrote those words I could see a crowd of people, gathered together, hands lifted heavenward, faces turned to the light-and each was allowing the gifts they had been given to flow without doubt or fear. No one looked to his neighbour in envy, wishing he had been given the ability of another. What amazing power there was, the room vibrates with it.
As my correspondence with my friend has continued today I have begun to get a hold of the shift I have been sensing was coming. I had not realized it before, but the church I previously belonged to had become a haven for many of us, and all of us felt lost when it disbanded. There had been a small core of us, good friends who found ourselves seeking other church bodies, and oddly, not one of us landed in the same place. And yet this past Sunday we were all in one place together again & it felt right & good. As my friend & I marveled at this it occurred to me that we had all begun to lean on each other, and to some degree hide behind each other, and God needed to push us beyond our safe borders. To take us back (or forward?) to a place where we learned again that we are supposed to lean on Him, hide in Him.
I am not fond of change, and I do not easily open myself to new people, and yet, looking back over the past couple of years I can see I have been brought into a place where I feel safe. More than that, I realize the biggest shift was that God brought me into a body of believers where my daughter felt safe, and so I could relax and be who I was called to be, or at the very least move in that direction. For the first time in years, decades even, I feel like I am my authentic self, and I do not need to hide it at all.

Come, what gift have you been given? There is a song to be sung in each of us. Unfurl yourself in the Son.

Dance in the rain

Lightning

Never

Strikes twice-

So they say.

Caught in the

Deluge

Do we run for cover

Or shall we

Dance

In the rain?

The community of Magrath is mourning the loss of 4 teenagers today, following a tragic accident early Sunday morning. I admit to shedding a few tears when I read the newspaper article. My own sons are not much older & live in the same community, and it hit just a little too close to home. My heart has been heavy today, grieving with those families, and I longed to call my boys up, pull them close and tell them again how precious they are & how much I love them. I raised my face heavenward again and thanked God for keeping my children close in His perfect care. I am eternally thankful He granted me the blessing of them in my life, and I daily pray for their safety & well-being, especially my sons who are becoming men & beginning to make their own way in the world.
This tragedy got me to thinking, again, about how short & uncertain life can be. We worry and guard against illness and aging, but our days are numbered and there is little we can do to alter that hour. And so I think, perhaps, we should take note, and tell the people we love we love them. Tell our friends we appreciate who they are & what they add to our lives. Never waste an opportunity to let someone know they matter to us. Savour life, fall in love, dare to dance in the thunderstorm & chase the rainbow when the sun breaks through the clouds.

So, to you who I count among my friends, know today how much I love & appreciate you & all you add to my life. You are each a unique & precious treasure. I cherish you.