impinged

I admit, postings have been rather sparse lately. I only write when I’m inspired to do so. And right now I am inspired. I actually have a series of posts I plan to write over the next little while. In the same tradition as before, the topics will be things that have either changed me, inspired me, or been revealed to me.

To start off with I want to tell you about three books that have profoundly changed my life. The first is Wild at Heart by John Eldredge. A fantastic book about the heart and soul of a man. In amazing clarity he drives deep at what a man really needs to feel alive, and then he gives permission to be a man. Outstanding! The second book is none other than one of the best selling books of all time, not including the Bible, The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. In the midst of a dark valley where I almost believed my life had no purpose, this book was the hand that pulled me out of the quicksand. And the final book is the Barbarian Way by Erwin Raphael McManus. This book was the final crack in the dam of passion that was ready to break. If you are one of those people who still thinks Christianity is about hypocritical people espousing rules no man could possibly follow, then you need to read this book. Just to give you a taste, McManus says “the greatest enemy to the movement of Jesus Christ is Christianity.” Yeah, that ought to raise a few eyebrows.

And so it is through the journey these books set me on that I’ve come to discover what my life’s priorities are. This may sound elementary but I’ve never been able to articulate them so clearly. And then just recently I’ve had an interesting revelation regarding service. These will be the topics of my next couple of posts… when I get around to it.

You know we all get scared sometimes
and we run
But the funny thing about problems is…
They follow you
So no matter where you go, and I know you’ve all heard this before,
But there you are

It may occur, as you stare into the night’s ethereal firmament
The weight of burdens, the vastness of the universe
All calling for your resignation
Its then you realize you don’t have to fight anymore
But fighting is all you’ve ever known

Capitulation is a foriegn avocation
An option never considered
For we are the strong survivors carrying the onus of the world
The sane crazy among the sagacious
Forever calling for more
Until the mountain rises too high

We find ourselves on that cliff, that precipice of change
Do you jump?
To stay is everything you’ve ever known
Jumping is everything new
Everything

Are you sick enough, sick enough to swallow the pill of fear?
I’m not talking about running
I’m talking about honest change
Looking deep into the heart of your being, the mirror of truth
What makes you tick?
What causes your torment?

Have you cried at that abyssmal bottom?
Wondering how you arrived
Bewildered by life’s ardent tribulation
Incessently searching for that ellusive allayment
With only tears and fears as your guide

You no longer believe your own congregation of prevarications
Guileless before the world
Naked in the misery surrounding existence
There is nothing left but to reach out
To bow your head in humble accord
…To look up

Are you willing to face those demons?
Everything you’ve ever run from?
The guilt, pain, destruction you’ve caused and caused you
To cry those flowing opalescent tears
For your lustration

How tall is the ladder of your dreams?
The magical steps to the heaven of imagination
Is it enough to die at the bottom?
Staring at it like the Mona Lisa
Never to exalt in the first step jubilation

Would you believe in your own endemic miracle?
That there is one set aside for you?
Solicit the faith
Take that first step
Stand up from the ashes of misery
You, can definately change