hope

hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune with the words and never stops at all and sweetest in the gale is heard and strong must be the storm that could abash that little bird who kept so many warm...

i memorized that poem years ago...not bc i had to for school...or bc i wanted to to impress a girl (well, maybe it was partly that--but i guess it didn't work)...i memorized it (like i memorize most things) by accident. i read that poem. i read that poem. over and over and over, i read that poem.

bc that little bird inside my heart has been beaten down a few times. it's funny how it starts...you see the storm brewing on the horizon--but you figure you'll be ok. chances are it will dissapate b4 it gets here. but still it comes and you feel the beginnings of wind and rain and maybe some sleet...but you'll be ok...you're under a tree. then the lightning starts and you realize you aren't in a safe place. you look for somewhere to run...somewhere safe...somewhere dry... somewhere...somewhere...somewhere.

b4 you know it...you are in the midst of the storm. and it's a doozy. and it kicks your ass like there's no tomorrow.

we often hide in things that aren't safe...we hide in drugs...we hide in alcohol...we hide in sex...we hide in dreams...we hide in human love...we hide in food...we hide in busy-ness...we hide in work...

we hide. but we're not safe.

bc storms are storms and storms bash birds. and sad is the person who's little bird is bashed on the rocks.

there is a nautical term i love. i know it not from seafaring (God help me, i get sick in the bath tub), but from crossword puzzles. it is alee...it means to return to shelter...to safe harbor...away from the danger of the storm.

we have a hope. no matter how dark it gets. we have a hope...founded on God's promises and apprehended by faith. believing the unbelievable. walking onthe water...

our hope is God Himself. and when we hope in Him, we are not dissappointed.

hope.