Chasms and Choruses

I stood there, on the precipice of something great.
On the Cliffs of Decision, I was on the edge.
I looked out over the horizon that stretched a thousand miles.
The wind was blowing hard, but I wasn't cold.
I looked down into my hand – there it was. The problem.
I held in my right hand the Words you spoke.
They pulsed with life, moving through my arm and into my body.
In my left, I held the weight of a deadly vice, poisoning me.
I felt it also enter my body, and I felt a war.
As the hope and warmth arose from my right,
A sick and a cold spread like cancer from my left.
The wind persisted, forcing me to the very edge. I peeked over.
The chasm fell down like eternity, going only to the very center of the earth.
"You need me." A darkness was with me.
My stomach lurched when the vices whispered.
A choice. That was what was put to me.
Suddenly, a trip, a single moment that felt like an eternity.
I was falling, as the weight of my sin pulled me faster and deeper.
Into the belly of the earth, I could not breathe anymore.
"Let go." Someone else was here.
"I can't. I don't know how. It's too late for this."
"Never." Courage filled my body, as the cold shrinked.
And there, in the deep chasm, as I fell, I opened my hand.
Finger by finger until there was nothing.
A pair of silver wings carried me up, over the chasm.
I breathed the fresh air. I saw the horizon.
The beautiful sun enveloped my body in warmth.
My hands were open, yet they were full.

The Fairytale

Many years passed, up in my tower
Many years came and went
And out of my window, I saw other towers
But surely thought mine was decent

Days and nights I sat staring, out of my window
Watching many riders passing by.
They came from the east, they went to the west
Though none would linger at mine.

Slowly thoughts came and whispered in my ear
"Perhaps it's because of this:
Your eyes are not blue, and your hair is not golden.
Surely there is something amiss."

In front of my mirror I surveyed the damage
Taking great time and great care.
My eyes did not sparkle the way some eyes did,
And there was simply no shine in my hair.

And worse, still, for I knew the thoughts were right
As to why none came to love me.
My gown did not flow and I had not the jewels
As my reflection screamed back at me.

So I lay in my bed and cried myself to sleep
As months melted into years
For none came to rescue me from my tower
And I drowned in my own tears.

Then one fateful day, I almost could not believe,
I heard the sound of hoof beats.
They slowed at my tower, growing slower still
Until they stopped completely.

A prince had come! I cared not from where.
I sprang up to see if it was true.
I looked out my window down stories below,
And at first sight, I knew.

I ran down to meet him, my knight in shinging armor
He smirked as I opened the door, and I saw
He said that he had been searching for a princess
That my desires were his beckoning call.

So I fell, and fell hard, for the handsome prince
Who pulled me tight in his arms.
My face grew warm as he spoke in my ear
His pledge to love and keep me from harm.

But then he did something that made me think twice
About falling hard for my knight.
He asked for my Kiss, my one first Kiss
That was promised to the love of my life.

See, I had but one Kiss to give upon my lips.
Yes, one Kiss only to give away.
And this Kiss was promised to give to the man
I would marry on my wedding day.

Then from out of the darkness, those thoughts began to whisper
Cold in my ear again.
"Remember," they said, "that there is far better for him.
Best to give what he asks while you can."

So after a moment, I resolved to give
My one special Kiss away.
I closed my eyes and I waited in silence
Hoping I'd marry him someday.

His lips touched mine, and something strange happened.
My stomach twisted and lurched.
My head began pounding and I knew this was wrong.
And into his eyes I searched.

But they had grown cold and unfamiliar.
This wasn't my knight I'd known before.
I looked around only to find
My tower and my home were no more.

"Where are we?" I cried, confused and cold.
"My country," is all he replied.
I sobbed for my foolishness, knowing I was at fault
And realizing I'd fallen in love with a lie."

Hush now, my love. I'm here with you still."
His words held no comfort for me.
They mocked me in all their audacious falsehood.
Did he still expect my belief?

Night soon fell, and we made camp in the country,
In the forest so dark and cold.
I lay down, sleeplessly, crying alone.
Not knowing what next should unfold.

He thought I was sleeping, in the middle of the night
As he slowly prepared his things.
And he stole away, there in the middle of the night,
To steal some other girl's dreams.

I waited for him, day and night, all alone
In the forest he'd lead me to.
Cold and alone and sick, there I waited.
Hoping for some sort of news.

For in my foolishness, I still loved him.
I hoped only that he loved me.
For his love was my worth, that's all that I knew
That's all I could ever believe.

I know not how long I waited in the forest.
Time stood still there in Wait.
My foolishness drove me to bitterness,
My bitterness soon turned to hate.

That animal instict brought out sides of me
I never throught I would see.
I became the thing that I hated the most.
That was the end I'd reached.

Given up on life, I laid down to die
Resolving to let it end here.
I'd moved past my love, past my life, past all joy.
I'd cried every possible tear.

So there in my filth, with my sores pussing over,
I gave up on any last hope.
Shivering from the cold, not strength enough to stand,
I'd nothing left with which to cope.

But then, like a sunrise, a gentle warmth came.
It started in my chest and spread out.
When it reached my fingertips my heart started beating.
I stood, confused, looking about.

At first I saw nothing, then light from the shadows.
It came toward me like a wind.
It then became clear it was someone of great power.
Someone who knew me from within.

He was close to me now, on a great white horse.
His face was humble but strong.
I'd never seen anything more beautiful than He,
In this place he didn't belong.

He dismounted the horse and came close to me,
And I tried to shrink from his reach.
But I found myself unmoving in his presence.
I found that I could hardly breathe.

He spoke with words that sounded like honey,
And thunder was in his voice.
He looked beyond my horrible state
To put to me a choice.

"See there, in your heart, there is a hole.
Please let me come and fill it.
And there, on your lips, you're missing a Kiss,
I alone know how to reaseal it.

"You were made to love me, you see.
I am meant to hold your heart.
It is in me you will find your true worth.
The worth I placed there from the start.

"I'll not only restore your value,
I'll lift you up when I hold your hand.
I'll give you things that you'd never dream.
You are all a part of my Plan.

"See, I have a Plan that is all for you,
If you love Me first this time.
I will show you the man you deserve
Because his heart also resides in mine."

Hot tears streamed down my face.
I ran into his warm, loving arms.
I cared not what tomorrow would bring
Because, with this man, I was safe from harm.

He then took me far away.
So far away from that dark place.
He gave me a room in his castle.
Showed me my worth with his simple embrace.

He dressed me in garments of purple.
He gave me a crown of gold.
He gave me a place in his household.
He bought me with blood so I'll never be sold.

My past seems a distant memory.
Only I remember anything at all.
The King has forgotten everything.
My past transgressions, both great and small.

And though I await my prince
Our time together has yet to start
I know it will be beautiful beyond measure
Because the King has both of our hearts.

Redefinition

What is this thing, this misshapen shadow?
This twisted, deformed remake of a man on a cross?
Disproportionate and inaccurate, this life that I lead
To try to become a reflection of You.
I am bold enough to call it yours;
You are humble enough to call it beautiful.
And what I once called whole, I now call broken.
What I once called good, I now call a downfall.
What I once called great, I now call small.
What I once called death, I now call life.
What I once called ignorant, I now call wise.
What I once called mine, I now call yours.
And what I once called sin, I now call grace
For what is sin, but a thousand little roads
Seeming to knock me off course,
When what they really do is bring me
A small step closer to You.

The Music of Life

The music of life is not profound observations
Nor great thoughts of great men
Musings of the wise come and go
It is in the quiet of the falling snow
The rain as it hits the window pane
And the smell afterwards.
The warm sun on the grass
And the sweeping wind, carrying with it the glory of God.
The hands of the humble, always entwined in each other.
The faces of children happening upon
Some great discovery and
Always inquisitive, always questioning.
The voices of His children when no one is listening;
So sincere
Beautifully broken in surrender.
The music of life is here; it is within
It is beyond the doors yet always within reach
The music of life is here.

Autumn

Can death bring life?
Can pain bring beauty?

Leaves fall like time, so quiet that I barely notice.
Yet I look upon the crimson, burnt ground.
Here is my evidence; I smile to think so.
This cycle comes and goes like rain and snow.
It is good, though, this thing.Like my heart, I think.
This is a natural thing.
Sometimes-all of the time-I have to die to see life.
I have to sacrifice to see the garish green to see the branches.
They are what is important-they are me.
They are me and the earth and sun and rain are God.
I bow in respect. My roots are deep.
I long to feel more of the earth, to feel its very core.
I stretch, I grow, I thrive.Yet there is more...

Narnia

Embers glow in November snow

In the eyes of a mighty creature

Just beyond the wood, possibilities of "could"

Grow by the light of a lamppost

At the sight of Cair Paravel comes assurance that all is well

As the mermaids and the sprites rejoice

The wind always whispers, "Come two brothers, come two sisters.

"Take your eternal places in throne."

And the beaver and the badger, just as brothers common gather

To talk and eat as plain as you and me

But of course this is the way, of talking creatures by the way

Of Narnia, that land beyond the wardrobe

So when you get the chance, just stop and take a glance,

For you never know where Narnia will find you!