Lion's Tears

New year...wow. Well...to celebrate, I wrote a new poem. Kinda sums up what I've learned (and will be learning) this whole year.

God bless!

Lion’s Tears

The girl lay, broken
And bruised…
Tears running silently
Down her cheeks.

Pain, blackness, hurt…
Fear…

The girl curled up
As shadows came
To haunt her,
Terrorize her.

Pain, blackness, hurt…
Fear…

The hands grabbed her,
Laughing as she struggled,
Pain from each touch.

“God, help me,” she
Begged tearfully,
“Please…do something.”

Over and over they
Came.
Making her wonder
Why she was so
Special,
To be noticed by
Them.

“Isn’t once enough?”
She wondered,
Broken and bleeding,
“Why come again?
Why keep coming?
Can’t they go find
Someone else?”

Time after time…
How long?

Eternity?
The girl didn’t know.

Pain, blackness, hurt…
Fear…

They came for her
Again.
The shadows of her
Nightmares.

She curled up,
Waiting for the blows
To come,
For her heart to
Turn off,
And the
Numbness
To come.

It didn’t.
None of it came.

Her eyes flew open,
Half concealed in a
Dark corner,
She wondered what
Was going on.

She could see
Them
Just a few feet
Away,
Pacing angrily.

There was another
Shadow,
A new one…
She couldn’t make
Out its form.

Suddenly, she heard
A voice,
“Enough! You will
Not come
Near her again.”

The shadows moved
And she heard a
Low growl of warning.
They turned and left,
Glaring at her.

The girl watched as
Someone turned and
Walked towards her.
Her eyes widened in
Relief
As a lion came into
View.

She collapsed into
Sobs.
And the lion
Curled up
Around her.

The girl buried her
Head and hands into
His mane,
Falling into a restful
Sleep.

The lion stood guard
Over her,
Keeping the Shadows and
Nightmares away
As she healed.

And if you looked
Closely,
You would see
Tears running
Silently
Down his face…

Engaged

Need-love cries to God from our poverty; Gift-love longs to serve, or even to suffer for, God; Appreciative-love says: "We give thanks to thee for thy great glory." Need-love says of a woman "I cannot live without her"; Gift-love longs to give her happiness, comfort, protection--if possible, wealth; Appreciative love gazes and holds its breath and is silent, rejoices that such a wonder should exist even if not for him, will not be wholly dejected by losing her, would rather have it so than never to have seen her at all."

Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket--safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.

I'm engaged!

Happy Thanksgiving

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone.

Be blessed!

Quotes

Essential is truth; nonessential is liberty—in all things charity.

During this dark night of the soul, we may have a sense of dryness, aloneness, even lostness. Any overdependence on the emotional life is stripped away. The notion, often heard today, that such experiences should be avoided and that we always should live in peace and comfort, joy and celebration only betrays the fact that much contemporary experience is surface slush. The dark night is one of the ways God brings us into a hush, a stillness so that He may work an inner transformation upon the soul.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. (James 1)

Trapped

Darkness, fear…
A cramped
Place.
Trapped, always
Walking but
Never moving.
Hands grasp,
Tear.
Pinning, hurting.
Darkness, trapped—
Fear.
How to get out?
Can you get out?
Struggles, tears,
Shame.
Hands, bodies
Pinned.
Fear, pain, struggles.
Trapped with
No way
Out.

Hidden Hell

Pain, hurt, sadness…
A wall getting torn
Down.
Stone by stone,
Hands rip away.
Light pouring in
Through the cracks
To reveal a scared
Little girl
Who just wants
To heal
And feel safe.
Light piercing
Darkness…
No where to hide
Anymore.

Through Hell

Dawn always comes,
Or so I’ve heard.
I’ve doubted it…
For when you’re in
The midst of
Darkness,
It’s hard to see
Dawn approaching.

It’s the hard thing,
About traveling through
Hell,
You lose track of
Where you’ve been
And where
The End begins.

You don’t quite see
Until you’ve woken
In the woods
Yet again,
And healing
Begins.

Pain doesn’t leave,
And the scars
Will never be gone.
Yet scars will
Fade,
And scars are better
Than open wounds.
Scars are a testimony
Of Healing and
Life.

Scars add to you,
Though…

Hidden—
They cause you to look
No older than a
Child.
Revealed—
To look as
If you’ve lived
Through more than
Anyone could in
A lifetime.

Traveling through hell
Will not let you
Leave unscarred.
And going through
Purgatory
Will not let you
Leave unchanged.
Healing does that…

Musings

I've been meditating on the book of Habakkuk. It's a really intriguing book, and I'll post more when I get the chance. For now, I'll just post a favourite part of it (3:17-19).

17Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.

It's good because it talks about trusting God no matter what, even if life seems unfair...or horrid, etc.

Life's been interesting lately. Work's a lot of fun, also interesting. It's a fun working environment and I've been learning a lot, including Spanish. I'm very joyful at the moment...which is awesome after everything.

New Poem

Here's a new one I wrote. Dedicated to Aaron.

The Harrowing of Beauty

I found you,
Curled up
And hurt.

My arms gently gather
You up,
Shielding you from
The world.

I examine the wounds
And pain,
Healing what I
Can.

My eyes darken
In fury
As I see more
And more wounds.

How could they do
This
To you?
So precious, so
Beautiful…
Yet they did this
To you…

I slowly begin to
Help you heal,
And slowly the wounds
Fade to scars.

Your eyes…
They did that to
Your eyes.
So very old
And guarded…
Not as they
Ought to be…

Beauty…they attacked
Beauty.
Beauty which ought
To be touched
Gently and
Carefully,
With permission.
Not grabbed,
Not taken
Forcefully,
But gently, carefully…
Caressing.

I wish I had been
There,
To stop them…

Your smile
And touch
Tell me not to
Worry,
And that I’m
Helping now.

Still…I wish
I could have
Stopped yet
Another
Attack on
Beauty…