Healing

We have to stop closing our eyes...

Tree

Not alone; in peace

and freedom I sway my branches,

dance in the breeze,

worshiping in the rain.

A cool rain that soaks deep,

soaks gently, splashing off

my new growth, running down

last years branches, sinking under,

lower, further, into the hidden places.

Not alone; in stillness

I see the night come. See

the fading light offer stars that

come silently and move their

dream-like pictures across my sky.

A waxing moon slides past.

It keeps its secrets or maybe

whispers them to the stars,

or the angels. I don't mind.

They are humble, never jealous that

all day long the sun overpowers them.

They are faithful, never out of

formation, always on time.

Men trust their lives to the

stars, sailors to the night-sky-truth.

I trust mine to the sun's promise

of tomorrow.

Not alone; I soak in light,

in sunlight. My leaves stretch, grow

larger, and become deeper hues. I grow,

and no one sees me,

and no one hears me,

until I am strong enough to bear the

weight of a tree house,

or am filled with fruit.

Anonymity is fitting for me;

Rain, stars, and sun I contain.

Enough, and Relationship

Ok, enough with marriage posts. Why? Because it's a heck of alot of fun being single!

[note to friends: NO I am not posting as a rebellion against all the weddings happening]

Being single. Ahh. The refreshing winds of freedom. I call it my time of being boss. No sanctifying influence of another person you have to live with day in and day out, that you have to love when they are being irritating. Our burdens come from other places.

Like loneliness. How do we deal with that? Do we look at couples being cute and pine away? I propose not. I mean, looking sounds nice, but not pining away. I say...pray.

Prayer. To me, prayer has been the sweetest gift found in my singleness. It succours the loneliness. It brings answers. It brings adventures and challenges and dares even. It is scary and exciting and risky and fun, but it's also safe, romantic, comfortable and secure.

Of course, this kind of prayer does not happen in one day. Or one week. It is a lifestyle, and it isn't as easy as that paragraph made it sound. But it isn't hard either. It's plain old good. The safety grows with our knowledge of God's faithfulness, the risk with our ability to hear his voice of direction.

I used to think that singleness was a trial. I would 'suffer' through all kinds of unfulfilled emotions. Then I got into this prayer thing. The emotions are still there. But the suffering has turned into a relationship.

And relationships are what I'm all about.

Inter-racial Marriage???

"For God shows no partiality" Romans 2:11

Our God doesn't play favorites. The young do not receive more attention than the old; the foreigner gets equal access to worship as the native ("You and the sojourner shall be alike before the LORD" Numbers 15:15b); and all nations and heritages receive equally of His grace and attention. Even the Jews, his chosen people, do not receive more of His heart than us, but being grafted into the vine (Romans 11:11-12) He delights for us ALL to be with Him where He is and see his glory (John 17:24).

Race, I believe, is a social construct. Yes, God did divide people by creating separate tongues to prevent the world from being able to accomplish all the evil man was capable of. This brings up a strong point about division. It works powerfully against the momentum of any movement. It is what God himself used to hinder mankind in their unified evil purposes. It is also what the enemy uses not infrequently against the Church. But that is a side track. We are talking about race.

There are separation of languages. There are nations created through the bloodlines of family trees. But what exactly is race supposed to mean? What is color? And why are some of us so against the combining of these differences in "inter-racial" marriage? Do we not see that this sort of thought process is actually causing division?

I guess that's my point. That inter-racial and inter-cultural marriages, when they are carried out lovingly and successfully in the body of Christ, serve to promote unity. They perform a valuable function in the Body's witness to who Jesus is by revealing His love for all people and the fact that He is not partial to any special inside group. Jesus is not about uniformity (look at the diversity of creation!) but He does care about unity. Thank you, Joel, for pointing that out.

So a note to all my friends out there are or who may one day be in an inter-racial/cultural relationship: I support you. Kudos to being the body and showing the world that God does not show partiality!

dusk

Dark skin radiating, sweet and pungent
the voice of a mellow sax
alone among the first blue stars.

He moves to the somber sound;
a slow dance, a lumbering gait;
his long lashes catching moisture

of his own tears, mixing with the
sky's as mist rolls against the
stars and nebulae;

rolling, swaying
to the ancient rumble of thunder
in his chest,

running down powerful arms,
taste of bronze night,
mighty as thunder, crying.

Motly thoughts

I believe this is what I do when I am thoroughly sick of schoolwork. Blog.

So in lieu of sharing something powerful or passionate or inspiring I'm giving y'all a list.

1. In case you were wondering, the contraction "ain't" is perfectly useful for saying "have not," "will not," and three other contractions. Unfortunately overly bossy grammarians have denied it a place in formal writing. Ain't ain't a word is actually a lie: "Ain't" IS a word.

2. Shakespeare was overly interested in ambiguity and double meanings, along with syphilis and every kind of bawdy humor...somehow this has earned him unending fame.

3. In Spanish, the pronouns for direct and indirect objects come before the verb.

4. I am the only one who has enough of nothing to lose to get into a relationship on facebook just for April Fools Day.

5. I am no longer enrolled in summer classes.

6. Becca is going to be in Kentucky soon.

7. I love looking at the stars/heavens because this is the only physical representation of God's infinite nature I can begin to comprehend.

8. I miss my dead golden retriever, Sandy.

9. I am going to plant Chamomile early this spring, so maybe it will actually have time to bloom...TEA!!!

10. My brother is the best boy I've ever met.

I hope you enjoyed this snapshot of my mind tonight. On to more plodding forward. School ends in three weeks. FREEDOM!!!

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free; stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yolk of slavery. ~Gal 5:1