come closer

come closer.  

come into this.

you are quite the beauty.  if no one has ever told you that before, know that right now.

you are quite the beauty. 

there is joy in how your mouths dance with your teeth.  

your smiles 
are simply signs 
of how sacred your life actually is.

He made you, and He was happy.  
you make the Lord happy.

come into this.  

come closer.

know that something softer than us, but just as holy 

planted pieces of Himself into our feet 
that we might one day dance our way back.

know that you are almost home.  
come just a little bit closer.

there are birds beating their wings beneath your breastplates.  

gentle sparrows that ache to sing.

come aching hearts,

come soldiers of joy,

doormen of truth.

know that my heart was too big for my body so i let it go.

and most days, this world has thinned me to the point where i am just another cloud, 

forgetting another flock of swans.  

but believe me when i tell you that my soul has managed to squeeze itself into such narrow spaces.

place your hands beneath your heads when you sleep tonight, and perhaps you will find it there,

making beauty as we sleep, as we dream, as we turn over.

when we turn over in the ground, may the ghosts that we have asked answers of

do that turning,

kneading us into crumbs of light and into this single thing called life.

come into it. come.  

you wooden museums, 

gentle tigers,

little giants.

I see teacups upside down, glowing across your grins.

your hearts are like my hands. 
some days, all they do is tremble. 

i am like you. 

i am like you. 

i too, at times, am filled with so much fear... so much fear. 

but, like a hallway, must find the strength to walk through it. 

walk through this with  me.

through this church of blood, bone and muscle that is ours. 

there is a doorknob that is glowing. glowing like chants before you. 

grab it, turn and pull.

step through. 
back straight, chin up, hearts loud. 

walk through this with me.  

walk through this with me.

thank you.

~Anis Mojgani

An Everlasting Rock

Aaron and I went hiking yesterday. It was such a beautiful day. Blue skies, warm air - bright, brilliant sunshine! It was lovely!! The plan was to head out to Alpental at Snoqualmie and do the Source Lake hike. We'd never been there before and Aaron had heard from his boss that it was a great hike. I imagined hiking in the heights of the Snoqualmie mountain area. We were excited to get started.

As we arrived at Alpental, we weren't sure of the exact route to get to the trail head. Aaron took a turn that led us down a narrow road toward Denny Creek. As we wound our way down, the paved road took us over a bank of rock that kind of creeped me out. I imagined huge rocks cascading down the mountain in an avalanche, breaking and crushing everything in its path. There was no way a person could survive that type of disaster. The first question in my mind was: "Is it possible for that to happen now?" And then: "I don't want to be here if it does."

Worship.

When my heart has had all it can take, I worship You.  When my world is good or bad, I worship You.  Life is crazy, and this world is mixed up, messed up. I worship You.

Worship is an expression of loving.  It is attributing worth to something... to someone.  I cannot help but worship God. He is not simply worthy... He is worth all that I have to give.  I worship Him. 

Not just in song, but with the very essence of my life.  Worship is more than choosing to spend a few minutes singing.  Like the song says, it's letting my Life Song sing to You.

Jesus, I worship You.  Perfectly incomplete, as I am.  You are worthy.

My soul yearns for You in the night; my spirit within me earnestly seeks You,

For when Your judgements are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

-Isaiah 26:9

I Like to Run Alone

I like to run alone.

• I can go at my own pace.
• There's no one to which I am accountable.
• I'm not holding anyone up.
• I don't feel the pressure of letting anyone down.
• If I want to go faster, I don't have to worry about whether someone else is keeping up.
• I am hindered only by own physical limitations - and no one else suffers the consequences.
• I am not embarrassed when my ability pales in comparison to someone else's.
• I can set my own course.

In some ways this is good.  In others, not so much. 

Maturity, set to words.

If...

Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!