Live or Die

The fear you had as a child

Devours you

A lion eating its prey

                                                                               Open your mind

                                                                               Possibilities are endless

                                                                               A calf, seeing for the first time

Shame overcomes all thought

Burns out the light
Dark as a night with no stars

                                                                              Aware of your surroundings

                                                                              First sunlight on the horizon

                                                                              Dim light fills your soul
Guilt weighs you down
Unable to move
A fly in a spider web

                                                                             Will yourself to take a step

                                                                             Cautiously moving forward

                                                                             A baby bird opens its wings
No sparkle in your eye                                                  
No passion if you try
No beauty in the sky
No longer able to cry
No one cares enough to pry

                                                                              God loves you every day

                                                                              God’s grace is here to stay

                                                                              God will light the way

                                                                              God teaches you to pray

                                                                              God helps you learn to play

                                                                              

                                                                              Transformed

                                                                              With God you are reborn
Broken
Walking with the living dead

The Voice

We speak with a voice that the world hear

High or low, loud or soft
Filled with passion or joy
Tainted with anger or doubt

Announces our presence

Shapes and defines us
The window to our soul
The steel door with a peep hole

Constantly at the ready

Protecting us from harm
Laughing with loved ones
Screaming with sadness

Unique to the world

Only ours to share

We all have another voice

High or low, loud or soft
Speaks kindly, reassures us
Critical or condescending

Always there, lurking in the shadows

Shapes and defines us
Only for us to hear, hidden from the world
Making sound when we need silence

There from the beginning

Intimate knowledge of our darkest secrets
Uses fear to knock the wind out of us
Consoles us as we fall to the ground weeping

So cunning, we start to need that voice to survive

Becomes our best friend
Traps us, controls us, owns us
We are now puppets to the power of the silent voice

God silences that voice, rescues us from the deadly grip

Scream for him, pray with him, sit with him
Walk with him, wherever you go
The Truth now is with you, the world hears you

The other voice slithers away, back into the darkness

Lurking, watching, listening, taunting
Waiting for you to come back
Tempting you with false promise, trying to soothe old wounds

When you speak, what does the world hear?

Your voice or the voice of the puppeteer?

Nothing Out, Nothing In

In the deepest part of our soul

Our most sacred thoughts live

Love, passion, joy

Disappointment, insecurity, anxiety

At our most vulnerable, we share these thoughts

Dancing with other’s thoughts

To beautiful music, coming together

Connections are created through God

Vulnerability becomes the heartbeat of life

Opening ourselves to the Truth of God

Our light shines brightly with others

Seen and admired in all of God’s Kingdom

Fear stops the music

Fear stops the dancing

Fear stops the sharing

Beautiful thoughts, trapped in our souls

Alone in our silence

Looking for a dance, searching for the music

That will allow us to feel the beauty of God

Our light so dim, it slowly burns out

Fear is cruel, does not discriminate

Hard as steel, deep as an ocean

Protects us from vulnerability

Sits with us so we are not alone

Tricks us into letting nothing out

Mocks us as we let nothing in

We miss the music, we miss the dance

We miss the connections

We miss God

We miss purpose and Truth

Fear has won

Nothing Out, Nothing In