"Sugar: I eat too much, I'm good for a minute, but the downer that follows is way down."
And joking, I said,
"When I go to the doctor, they call that manic depressive."
"Joking," I said.
I don't think they call it that anymore, even in good fun,
And you don't need to know my medical history, anyway.
But as long as we're on the subject,
let's talk about extremes for just a minute.
Pattern recognition is a peculiar hobby of mine ~ I've recently realized ~ and one of the patterns that's recently caught my attention is my own system of a down.
I'm UP
and then
I'm way down.
The cogs that turn this wheel are many and weird,
And also, not what this is about.
more (on that) later.
maybe.
because
It seems that I am either going to talk way, way too much,
Or I'm not going to talk at all.
My system of extremes.
My tic and toc.
In that light, be it known that this season has been one of the downest that I've had in a very, very long time.
So much that even if I'd wanted to talk, I've known better than to put some of this out there into the ether.
But the Ether already knows.
I've been living(ish) for Jesus
don't freak. he told me to be true.
for most of my life.As I now also work for Jesus,
every single thing that I say
may be,
should be,
will be
examined
by the everlasting light.
by the Everlasting Light.
And that holds me up to a high standard, which is
Good and bad.
Encouraging and exhausting.
So, as I've spent this season trying to say zero
harmful,
stupid, or
embarrassing words,
I've turned completely in on myself.
I've talked (only) to myself until I'm blue in the face!
My deeply intentional words to people in grief are that
you must not
under any circumstances
or for any real or perceived reason
So thank Jesus for the radio!
When I cannot or will not say words, the radio (often) says them for me ~ and I'm not sure I'd even know where I've been this season were it not for my playlist, which I've maintained in (mostly) silence.
So as I emerge now from the desert
~ (Lord, I pray) ~
here is the path I've taken:
some of these have bad or difficult or triggering words.
as with everything else I say, listen at your own risk.
"I am early in my story, but I believe
I will stretch out into eternity,
and in heaven I will reflect upon these early days,
these days when it seemed God was down a dirt road,
walking toward me. Years ago,
He was a swinging speck in the distance;
now He is close enough I can hear His singing.
Soon I will see the lines on His face."
Donald Miller
Swimmin Time
Coping Mechanism
Hurricane
Morning
Robert Creeley
dam’s broke,
head’s a
waterfall.
"I've been told there is a power in the blood
Is it enough to carry me back
Is it enough to carry me back
from where I am to where I was?"
Everything NowNo Hard Feelings
I Will Survive
Not Waving but Drowning
Stevie Smith
Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.
Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he’s dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.
Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
RisingAs I drafted all of this out this morning
~ not realizing that's what I was doing ~
I had a vision of the woman washing Jesus's feet with her tears.2
And then I saw my own face, my own tears.
And I felt his hand on top of my head
And I felt in my hurting heart
How much he loves me
In spite of all my extremes.
My salt and my shadow.
And that's all I have to say about that.
1 this happens a lot, and I just had one of my really great ideas!
1a and also, why do I keep saying, "compadres"?
2 Forgiven Much
