Better is One Day
Welcome!
So this is a blog? I guess? It’s my first time, so if you’re reading this, you’re probably a close friend or family member whom I’ve begged, pleaded, or bribed to click on my website. If not, then this has officially surpassed my expectations for reaching people and so, that’s exciting. I will now shut down the site and move on with my life.
…
Here’s the idea: I’ve accumulated a few poems by now, and I’d like to share them. My plan is to post one every month or so, so that there is some level of returning interest. I don’t want to ‘flood my market’ (lol) and cheapen what has become so meaningful to me and hopefully for you as well.
So the obvious, and most pertinent question that needs to be answered, then, is Why? Why do I write? And even more – Why do I want to share what I’ve written?
why
I write because I am inspired. I have been inspired. I do not mean this as a lofty claim or a self-aggrandizing proclamation, rather as a contented statement of reality. Over the course of my life (grand total of 31 years) I have been blessed by and suffered through, a variety of experiences and circumstances that have shaped who I am. I have been challenged, broken, fed and motivated by these experiences. By them and from them I have found Hope, Life and Purpose. I am grateful for this reality and the inspiration that has been borne as its fruit. Writing and journaling allows me to concretize those experiences. Choosing to make the words rhyme and flow, adds weight, perspective and poignance. It is no longer simply a record of information but an inspired piece of art; an act of worship, an expression of gratitude. Poetry is my way of fostering, tending or stewarding what I have been given. Making it dance, making it sing, making it memorable – making it Beautiful.
I choose to share because - I think I should. If something is Beautiful, then I believe it should be displayed, proclaimed, broadcasted. I believe what I’ve written is Beautiful and Good (beneficial, helpful, has value). I want to share what is Good. I want whatever Goodness or Beauty is contained in my writings to be perpetuated. I would say that sharing my work is, at the very least, a moral obligation, and at the highest: a divine calling (I would argue that the two are one and the same).
To speak hypothetically: If what I have written is in fact Good or Beautiful, then by sharing it, more Goodness/Beauty will inevitably be produced.
inspiration
In my own adventures I have found that ‘mountain-top’ moments are not re-creatable. Each adventure carries its own mix of experiences: Beauty, struggle, pain, confusion, excitement, fulfillment, disappointment, success, failure, victory and defeat, all in varying degrees and forms. As these dance, wrestle and speak with one another along the trail they inevitably culminate and resonate in a single, climactic moment at the summit. I encounter Heaven. Or pick another word for it; the other side, something transcendent, supernatural, inexplicable, divine and mysterious. The Kingdom of God. I cannot control, conjure or create this thing, I encounter it as it presents itself, I can only pursue it. I find it when I truly seek it. In these moments I am consistently afraid, inspired, uncertain, awestruck and Broken. Fully Alive. Where God and I occupy the same space and time for a moment and an eternity. This is where the lines are blurred. Where the sacred and ordinary are no longer distinct from one another. Where what is holy and what is earthly are one and the same. Where the Word is made flesh, where the bush burns but is not consumed, where I have to remove my sandals, listen, be still, and in awe.
your turn
If you’ve read this far you might as well finish because this part’s for you:
My aim is to facilitate hope and inspiration, as I have so received it. My hope is that, as you read these words, that you choose to take them in. The words and all that they carry with them. This isn’t to say that anything I’ve said or written is overly profound, new or insightful, but to challenge you to ‘go there’. I hope that you choose to wrestle with the thoughts, feelings, memories, dreams and aspirations that are brought to light. Let it in.
No one knows you’re reading my poems. No one knows what’s going on inside, so why not venture into that space? Why not dare to encounter that beautiful, painful, confusing, exciting, terrifying, life-giving space. The space where you can begin to see the contrast between who you are and who you are meant be. At least for a moment. Dance with it.
I want you to step out of your comfort zone. I want you to let yourself be; afraid, uncertain, offended – Broken. And to reflect on that. I want to create space for those tears and anger to manifest. Where the meaningless self-loathing and apathy distill into fervor and conviction towards change.
I want you to step out of your comfort zone. I want you to let yourself be; encouraged, inspired, awestruck, – Broken. And to reflect on that. I want to create space for those dreams and visions to be realized and pursued. Where the unending pining and fantasizing collide with discipline and purpose towards Life.
Every valley has a lowest point where moving from it in any direction, means beginning an uphill climb. Every summit has a peak where from it, every direction is down. Do not neglect your brokenness, do not deny your divinity.
I hope that by reading these words that you willingly cross that threshold from comfort and familiarity. That you choose to venture into the internal unknown. That you find where you end, and God begins. Where earth stretches skyward and heaven rains down. Where the now and the not-yet are beautifully juxtaposed in a single moment.
I hope that you discover Holy Ground.
