Beach Contemplation

Waves crashing into stone
Hundreds of rocks slowly erode
Reshaping the coastal landscape
Millimeter by micrometer
Water flows over and between
Every minute crevice
Softening the rough crags
Widening the cracks
Creating space and flow

A seagull’s anxious cry
Signals a feast
For one?
Or more?
Turquoise mixes with grey-blue form
And white foam lingers in the tumult
Of the chaotic sea
Undulating contours never resting

Sun behind the thick marine layer
Escapes diffusion
And shines bright
Despite the pervasive fog attempts
To disrupt and distort
The strong and true
Light rays

Thunderous collisions of heavy liquid
Rocks
And air
Rumble in the monotonous surging rhythm
High pitched slaps of snow white caps
Give texture to the tune of the sea
Accompanied by the chorus of gulls
Hovering above
Rough granite beach sand
Large grains dragged to the ocean’s edge
Ripped from neighboring boulders

The sun dips toward the horizon
Signaling the day’s upcoming death
The breath of the sea blows
Inland from the unknown airy expanse
To an undetermined destination
Somewhere beyond my grasp

A seagull harnesses the wind’s persistent flow
Of invisible power
To linger in mid air
Balancing the forces of aerodynamics
Eyes wide open
Always seeking
Considering the next choice
From a higher perspective
Positioned at the edge of chaos
And calm
Just stay in the flow
To take flight with little effort
And soar
To new heights

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The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8-9 NIV)

Written Pacific Grove – Monterey, CA 4/28/2015

New Life - Easter 2015

Ah, the tear in my soul
has been wrenched open
Again
The longing once assumed to be filled
Has revived
Threatening to spoil the good in proximity
Ripping away the hope
Once tentatively and tenderly grasped
So the shameful clammering resumes
And death
once again knocks on my splintered chest
Planning to permeate my soul

Emotions held captive
in a protective bubble within my heart
Has Burst open
A tiring voice implores, "Why?"
"Why now, when I have begun to taste freedom...?"
Unrest and disappointment
Threaten
To Leech back into the aching sections of my soul

I must keep sight of the gifts already given
And the good laid out in front of me
On the banqueting table
But the longing is so strong
And present
What if there's a chance
To grasp the unattainable?
To become worthy of the infatuation desired
What if there's something
Something I can do
to prove
I am lovable
Or Something I can say
That would turn dismissal
into adoration
Hoping for
A 'love' that would conform
to the selfish vision my broken eyes have seen
Through a dark veil of selfish desperation

So these subtle
And often subconscious
inquiries
haunt my soul
They rip and tear
at my fragile internal peace
But I hear another,
Speak
Speak against my desperate plans:

"Do not give in to the fear
Of missing out
Or let the false replace the true
Or allow the hypothetical ideal
trump the proven experience
This will dismantle your hope
And erode your self worth
Disintegrating a future
Ready for you
So, my child
Die to your often accepted lies
And the ingrained misconceptions
You've bathed in for so long"

"But be careful
for the truth may seem
A foreign territory
For one who has trusted
and listened
To the fickle
And twisted world for so long

Accepting lies as truth
Is an easy trap to fall into
But take courage!
I have overcome the world!"

"So come forth!
Out of the cave of darkness
Rise!
From the path of death
Rise!
To the true life set before you
Rise!
From the coffin of fruitless longing
Rise!
Embrace the love freely given
Rise!
Hold on to the intimacy offered"

"Rise!
To new life"



written April 5, 2015 (Easter Sunday)