Candlelight

How can I sit
In spiritual
And actual
Apathy
When people are
Dying -
And killing one another?
How can I be
So grossly passive -
So intensely dismissive
When the light
Inside others is
Being extinguished
By hate?
When will people rise -
When will I rise up
Against
All this
Injustice?

Failure To Thrive

That which I don’t
Understand
And that which I
Seek
To master
Are elusive.
Understanding
Is elusive.
Mastery
Is elusive.
I can grasp
Very little
In this life,
But that which I do,
I hold onto
With both
Hands.

Other

So many times
I feel like an other
And I am left to wonder
If my otherness
Is obvious
Or not.

Life On A Mountaintop

A journey may begin
With just one step
But the whole experience -
A whole relationship -
Can’t be lived on a
Mountaintop.
It’s necessary to also
Experience the valleys
And plateaus,
If only to be reminded
That we will rise from
The depth
And continue on
The journey.

Missing

Something is lacking
And I can’t shy away from it
And I can’t keep denying it
Because without this
Without somewhere safe
Where I can come out of hiding
Where I can speak my own truth
Where I can’t disconnect
Where I can have a record
Of what I was thinking
On this day
In this moment
Without this place -
This sanctuary -
I have been floundering
I have not been aware
Or awake or
Even cared
I have been busy
I have been productive
But I haven’t been present
With myself
And I haven’t been real about my life.

Pouring In

Find another someone
You don’t already know,
Pour your something
In their lives
Just because
You know it’s right.
My own struggles pale
Compared to
Someone else I know.
So I’ve not reason
To complain,
Just look forward.
Take control.

Do You Know You're Free?

How many of us
Live in a cage
Every day
Of our lives?
We live as if
We are guilty
Of every
Wrong
Thing.
And that
May be so.
And we know
It is.
So, thus,
We live.
A captive
And a prisoner
Trapped
In a cage
Of our own
Making.
The cage is
Fear.
The cage is
Doubt.
The cage is
Inadequacy.
It is
Never quite
Believing
That what
We see as
Positive
In others,
We also
Possess.
So,
We stay
Trapped
In this place
When all the
While
There is
Something
We don't know.
And that is
That the door
To this cage
Is not locked.
And that it,
In fact,
Stands open.
But
Do we move?
Do we dare
Get up
And claim
The freedom
That we have?
Do we even
Know we're
Free?
We are not
Guilty.
Jesus' death
Took care
Of everything.
And though
It might
Be scary
To leave
The safety
Of our jail,
He is
Waiting
To take us
By the hands...
And when we
Emerge...
He will
Cover us.

Loss

Today I feel anxious
And overwhelmed by
Circumstances.
Everything feels like
Too much right now.
And I don’t know
If I can do this.
There is so much
To be done, and
So much going on.
I just don’t know
If I can do this.

Believing

I am in the process
Of transition,
And I am believing
For something
More
Than I know.
I am believing
With faith
That this
New thing
Will be a freedom-giving
Experience -
And that I will
Be able to
Live up to this
Opportunity.

Returning

I have returned
Once again
To a place I love,
To witness rebirth
And to contribute
Something of value.
I am returning
To a place of joy,
A place of pain,
But I don’t regret it
Because I need it
In more ways than one.