Friday, July 23, 2010

left my fear by the side of the road...

"All I Need is You" by Hillsong United is on repeat right now.  i just kind of clicked to this song tonight because the first line popped into my head earlier.  it's really a great song; it starts out in a minor key that makes a shiver run down my spine...but that's beside the point.

anyway, this song got me thinking about some very important things.

i've been reading "Every Young Woman's Battle" by Shannon Ethridge.  yes, the book is about sex and abstinence and all those things, but i've recently noticed that's not all it's about.

in one of the earlier chapters, Ethridge dispels myths about relationships that many girls buy into.  one such myth is that a girl needs a significant other to feel complete and happy.  Ethridge's answer to the myth is that all we truly need is God--only our Creator can complete us.

i'm not sure if i've fallen into the "i NEED a guy to be happy" trap in quite some time.  i've learned/am starting to learn that if that were a need, God would have given it to me (Philippians 4:19).

but let's be real...i could fill in the blank--"i NEED ________ to be happy"--with a lot of things.  i won't go into them here, but i know i'm not the only one who feels this way.  any one of us could pick any number of things to complete the sentence.

here's a question, though...how many times has GOD filled that blank? 

for most Christians, He probably does subconciously.  it's something like how we can recite some Bible verses with our eyes closed and in one breath--sure, we have some scripture memorized...but does it actually mean something in that moment that we recite it?  do we believe those words?  or have we just remembered them from Vacation Bible School?

as this song plays over for the umpteenth time, as the refrain--all i need is You, Lord--permeates my being...i'm starting to realize how much i've been forgetting those simple, dynamic words.

they're so much more than words.

this song is so much more than chords and instruments and lyrics....

this is a love song of commitment to God, wedding vows that His bride the church has prepared.  

this is simultaneous submission and praise.

these words...should be the anthem of our lives.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Naïveté

she picks petals off daisies
playing that timeless trap of a game
as if "he loves me" doesn't fall
on every odd number

she chases after clouds
ignoring that cliche number nine
because eight and three quarters
is enough to be happy

she looks to the sky
uttering that age-old nighttime rhyme
if only she'd realize
those shooting stars are just airplanes

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Spontaneity

Life for me is using purple pen
When all the others write in blue or black.
It's playing jazz runs on the violin
When the world over says it can't be done.
It's jaywalking across an empty street
Instead of waiting for the light to change--

A poem in iambic feet when I
would shun such structures any other day.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Rumination

standing face to face with the past.  wanting it to crumble.

wishing i could take back things i said, things i let happen.  missing the way things were before i decided to be honest, before i opened that box of constant, quiet horrors--snapping the lid in the process so it stands forever open, allowing the ghosts inside to do what they will.

wanting those cloudy, reminiscent days to fade...

knowing they probably never will.

Monday, July 5, 2010

AURAL AMBROSiA

sweet symphony of one

your music carries
throughout this place

i am surrounded by beauty
the invisible beats
too blissful to articulate

my ears tingle with delight

& i never want to hear
the final chord

i am a disciple
of your sound
faithfully following
every crescendo

(Ode)

you
systematically
dissect my nerves
urging me to
convey you in words

i create pages worth
of script in my mind
rehearsing chance encounters
so they'll run smoothly
stealing glances because
stares seem strange
fantasizing freely

(we are two
our hands
intertwined
my heart
blissfully feeble
your eyes
beautiful misfortune)

i awaken with this
dream's sweet song
on my lips
in perfect harmony i cry:
unlikely muse,
allow me
to immortalize
you.