Is what He has promised.Not that the darkness will not comeNor that we will not feel itNor that we will alwaysSee ourselves as separate from it,But that on that dayHe will be there-Enormous, ferocious powerGentled just to be with us in our distress.For the darknessIs not a sign of the absenceOf God’s goodness,Or His failure […]
Read more "A Hand to hold on earth’s darkest day"The harrowing prayer of Christ in that gardenDid not change His circumstance.It was His last few momentsBefore going up to be crucified,A crucifixion He spoke of repeatedly.The contents of the prayerReveal a level of vulnerabilityThat is most unsettling.Christ accepts His crushing fateWhile at the same time expressing His desireFor another way.He did not consider His […]
Read more "Gethsemane"The promise of EasterIs that God really didLet it all go.More than was reasonableMore than was fair.Christ is in the businessOf making lovers out of enemies,He does not wieldOur faults against usTo keep us in line,He firmly places our offenceIn an irretrievable placeFar beyond the reachOf our doubtsOr our tendency to fall.We are forgiven:A gift […]
Read more "Forgiven"Blatant joyUnabashed glee andUnrestrained merrimentAre surprisinglyHard to sit with.Often off putting.Even in bad taste sometimes.It’s as though one’s mind is asking“How can you be so happyIn a world of so much brokenness?How can you still be like a childIn this way?’’Christian joyIs not escapismOr tone deaf positivity,Or reserved for the short windowsWhen life is going […]
Read more "Happy clappy"It is not continually on the vergeOf being destroyedLostOr broken.It is not the kind of thingThat is easily discardedOr misplaced because of carelessnessNor diminished because of neglect.You are a son.You belong to Someone.Room has been made for youYour space has been reservedYour name uniquely givenYour identity unquestionable.Yes, you may often failTo live as though this […]
Read more "Sonship is not fragile"Starts with rememberingThat you didn’t bring yourselfInto this world,That you were thought of by anotherYears before you had the capacityTo have any thoughts about your own existence.You were spoken for,And given a name to be known byA people to belong toAn identity to reside in-Gifts that can be embraced or despisedBut that are inseparable from […]
Read more "Being a son"We are not expansive enoughTo know how significantOur lives are going to be in the end.Maybe we will be celebratedAnd our efforts will have countedFor generations to come,Maybe our work will be creditedTo another,Maybe we will be cancelled posthumouslyMaybe no will remember us.Either way, we won’t be thereTo make a better case forThe life we […]
Read more "A coin in His pocket"There is a LoverWho didn’t just claimHe’d die for you-He actually did.There are armsThat can hold not just your bodyBut the very pieces of your soul together,There are WordsThat when spoken don’t justMake your ears tingleOr your stomah flutterBut can remind your broken heartWhere home really isWhile holding the very fabric of reality in place.Every […]
Read more "Valentine"Humans have a great great capacityFor illusions,For imagining a version of the worldDictated by our preferencesAs though we were the ones who made itIn seven days.God has mercy on those He wants to have mercy,Whether or not we agree with His assessmentAnd He plays on a field far, far aboveOur own.We are not Christians because […]
Read more "Capacity for Illusions"There’s no greater victoryThan a victory of the soul-Overcoming your own selfishnessWalking away from addictionFinding healing for insecurityAssuming responsibility for your own actionsReally changingPutting away victimhood,ForgivenessBecoming wholeFreedomLoving people instead of using people,Letting go of idolsClinging on to God.You might not get a trophyFor any of these thingsBut you’ll definitely beWinning withinWhen things such as theseAre […]
Read more "Winning Within"
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