The Wings We Bear

She falls into the night.
The broken wings have lost their stamina--
To press on is impossible
The end,
Inevitable.

Lying on the cold earth
Her eyes sink into the darkness
With nothing to surround her--
Nothing to maintain warmth.
The end,
Inevitable.

Noises besiege her timid presence.
She darts her weak eyes
Yet her body remains motionless--
And stricken with pain.
The end,
Inevitable.

Morning breaks.
Light seems a stranger to her
One so unfamiliar
And yet so personal--
The end,
Withers.

The crooked wings by her sides
Gain strength
In the radiance of hope--
She knows not the now, but
The end,
Diminished.

I am so often caught in what I see before me--because sometimes I seem to see nothing at all. I look around and I am captured by the lies that the world flings at me. Yes; my wings are broken. They are weak and mangled. But I am promised a joy that seeks me through the darkness and brings brilliance to my scarred eyes. You know that song "I'll fly away"? What a precious picture of the restoration of our broken wings on this earth--we are broken creatures...but we won't die; we will live on in the presence of the Lord of the universe, and we will see the world mended. What right have I to wallow in my feelings of self-pity and neglect the promises that the Lord reveals to me every day of my life? No, I don't know what's to come, but the light of the gospel transcends what I think may be the end. The only end that is certain is the end of darkness.

And my wings will be free.

broken beauty

We live in a beautiful, broken world.

The nation is broken, the organizations within it are broken, the church is broken, and the individuals are broken. Sometimes I just feel so useless because I don't know how to express my faith in real actions; or am I just a cop-out when it comes to truly standing up for my beliefs? Therefore, I'm denying my savior. I desire for the gospel to infiltrate my heart so much that it just bubbles out of me--and I need to spend more time in the Word and studying and knowing how to defend my faith. Honestly, because I am an English major, I have become pretty good at making eloquent generalities without really saying anything at all. But the gospel does not need sugar-coating: Jesus came to set me free from guilt and sin, and through him I can defeat that sting of sin--and death! And yet, just like Paul, I can never understand why I continue to do the things that I do. And even so, the Lord is in control.

Praise Him that the brokenness is being restored, and will one day be perfected.

And that is beautiful.