Lent

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The Bated Breath

Between

Ashes

and

Beauty,

The Road

From

Razed

to Resurrection...

An exquisite Stillness belies

The Movement

Beneath the surface,

Behind the Scenes,

The Readying for Birth

Submerged, Momentarily,

In this baptismal

'In-Between',

I feel myself,

not free-floating,

but tenderly Held,

Embraced in His Arms,

Every muscle therein tensed

Tremulous,

Ready to Lift me

From Lent,

To Life

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"I Am the Resurrection and the Life."

-John 11:25

Exhale

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We inhale ... what?

Air,

Food,

Sometimes Each Other...

What are we Exhaling to a World

Longing for Resuscitation?...

What you Inhale

Is what you will Exhale...

Let It Be a Sweet Breath

A Breeze of Benediction

Blowing on the Smoldering Coals of this Creation,

Bestowing Blessing,

Bellowing the Beloved

Back into Beautiful Flame...

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"Awaken, North Wind, and Come, Oh South...

Breathe on this Garden

That its spices may flow out."

Song 4:16

Bleed

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Blood Pushing, Pulsing,

Engorging 

Bones, 

Body,

Muscles no longer atrophied

But Warrior, and Ready,

Steeled to the core

Stallions ready to Run

Determined in their stride

Filled with Iron

Arms that bend bows of bronze

Taut, Tempered

In Fire not of this world

But found in The Deepest Heart of God

Burning

Mercilessly,

Mercifully...

Eyes Ablaze with this Flame,

Like her LORD's,

Just Exactly like her LORD's...

Hind's feet headed for craggy, impossible,

Unspoiled High Places

Utterly Insurmountable...

...And Yet...

And Yet,

She Will Stand

And See

From those Conquered Summits

All that was Beyond

this laughably brief Sojourn...

A million years hence,

This speck of existence

Will be but a drop of her Blood

Swimming in the current of His

The moment she was part of 

The Transfusion

Into a Beloved World

Whose heart

had gone cold

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"I have Loved you with an Everlasting Love...Come from the four winds,

Oh Breath and Spirit,

And Breathe upon these slain,

That they may Live."

-Jeremiah 31:3, Ezekiel 37:9

Lifted II

~~

Wings tightly folded, far too long,

now stretching

 spreading, 

soaking in Sun...

Suspended Animation

in this Moment Between

Broken Life

and Breaking Dawn...

as this once fearful fledgling

bravely bares herself,

lifts her face,

 to meet His Shining,

and with all her still-water-soul,

beautifully reflects 

her Beloved's Light

Thus Illumined,

Thus Lifted,

she unfolds to Him,

feels His Arms Underneath,

Beautiful Buoyancy,

Rapturous Rise,

For such a time as this,

Together,

They Fly...

~~

"Rise up, My love, My fair one..."

Song 2:10

Lifted

~ ~ ~

When you look back

See a Life Lived --

Not tethered to transient, untenable illusions,

Man's measuring sticks

That shackle you in the shallows,

But Winged

And Wide-Eyed

Moved by The Immovable,

The Immortals

Let not gravity have the last word,

You who were fearfully and wonderfully formed

For Flight

Re-Find your Belonging -- 

Not to the base elements around you,

But as The Beloved

Keep company with The Angels,

The Awakened,

The Lovers

And Be Lifted

~ ~ ~

"They shall mount up with wings as eagles..."

-Isaiah 40:31

Brushstrokes.....

* * *

I see only a small, very very tiny, 

Infinitesimal corner

of The Painting

and dance myself to exhaustion

trying to understand The Whole

and move accordingly...

Instead,

Let me dance with The Painter Himself

Slow, Soft, Fluid,

and So Very Close...

Moving in union with The One

Who holds the canvas,

Who created all color,

In Whose Arms I am the brush

with which He makes

such beautiful

Brushstrokes

* * *

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

Lean not on your own understanding,

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

He will smooth your paths."

-Proverbs 3:5,6

Love

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Bloodied Broken Prodigal Heart

Having gambled away

Every Grace

Every Good Gift Given,

Left Empty

Razed

Unrecognizable

Except

To a Father

Whose Heart bred this one

Bled for this one

Bore, in Agonizing Union

Every Blow

Each Abuse

The Crucifixion of Unbearable Betrayal...

In a show of Unprecedented Mercy,

Of Unbelievable, Astounding Grace

He tenderly takes up

My wasted Judas heart

Claims it as His own

Sees the treasure beneath the ruins

He unearths it

all of it

the excruciating pain

the paralyzing sorrow

the utterly undone-ness of it all...

And Instead

Buries it, absorbs it, into His very own Breast

Broods over it

and again, Breathes into it, 

the ancient In The Beginning words, 

"Let There Be..."...

Willing it to Live Again

Readying it
for

Resurrection

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"All Things New"

-Revelation 21:5

Wet

* * *

...Right under your nose

Right Beneath Your Feet,

Tapped

Percolating up to the surface

of this once dry desert

wetting your ground again

trickling around your feet

Springs Surfacing

There, all along...

Around your ankles now

Flowing Again...

Swirling around

Your waist

Your torso...

And now you swim

and float

and are carried

Looking Up

You Smile again,

As you are Born

away,

to

All Things New...

* * *

"Joy and Gladness will be found therein,

Thanksgiving and the voice of melody"

-Isaiah 51:3

The Walk

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Sometimes I think
He's not as task oriented

as we've made Him out to be...

Sometimes I wonder

if He just wants

to take our hand

and enjoy a stroll,

Maybe He gets tired too

and wants to simply

sit a spell,

and share a little beauty,

then to stroll some more...

not to arrive anywhere

in particular,

but just for the joy

of The Walk

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