The Soldier and the Poet.

Ok, this hardly counts as a blog post.

But I found this poem a few months ago, promptly forgot about it, and found it again a few minutes ago.

I absolutely adore it.

And honestly...I couldn't tell you specifically why. Perhaps it's the beautiful imagery portrayed through the words, or the simple phrases that make my heartstrings sing with recognition of my past experiences. Who knows.

Regardless, I hope you appreciate the beauty as much as I.

 

The Soldier and the Poet

 

At last,

The strength of your arm

The depth of your hands

The smell of your body

The reach of your arms

 

The scandal,

The generations of tension

In my tired shoulders

Relinquish their battle

To the soldier

 

Who does not weep

But brings up instead

Another thought

Touch me, my love

Love me now

 

Sweet Thursday

The day of your arrival

In my life

Stopping only to take in the sites

Of my arms strung around your neck

 

The truth in all of this

Sits like a dove on my

Weary back

The soldier,

The poet

 

A match made only across continents of

thought and doubt

My nerves ache and creak like nervous

trees in the wind

And you have clung to me

We have brought the ultimate argument to

rest

 

In my lonesome bed

Where we now lay

Thoughts intertwined

Like our limbs, reaching for the other

Even as we dream together

 

Fight the battle for me, my love

Let violence cease and crease our hearts

Scarred and lost

We have found each other

 

And still, even still

My heart, my mind

Is at last quiet in the palm of your calloused

hand

Gripping it tenderly so as not to destroy but

to hold it safely

 

At last,

the final word is spoken

And we have loved for a moment in time

That the universe and we shall never forget

We made a hole in the darkness with the

light of our love

 

This moment may pass

These days will end

But we shall remember

Forever

The love between

The soldier and the poet

 

-Grace Violet Ennis-



Victorious Living.

It’s Easter Sunday, and I’ve been thinking about a lot of things.

Well, one specific thing, really.

Today during worship, my pastor said, “Only through the Resurrection can we take a blemish of regret and turn it into a badge of glory.”

It’s a beautiful thought, no? Our pasts are wiped away. Because of Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice, we no longer have to be held in everlasting contempt for our sins.

But my pastor was trying to make a different point. He was challenging those of us who have already been redeemed and washed clean to LIVE a life of victory because of the resurrection.

In other words, are we living each day of our lives in light of God’s glorious forgiveness and overwhelming grace through the miracle of Easter? 

Are we looking at our pasts as something to display God’s glory through, or are we still hiding behind it as a hindrance to freedom and new beginnings?

He referred to Romans 6:1-14, and the first few verses jumped out at me.

“What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? Absolutely not! How can we who have died to sin still live in it?”

Heavy stuff. 

“How can we who have died to sin still live in it?”

Oh, but I do. Every day. Looking back on the last few months of my life alone, I can see millions of moments where I not only lived in sin, but wallowed, bathed, and dressed myself in the grime of my own selfishness. My own pride. My own lust.

Christ has died for these sins! He has already paid the price to erase them from my life! So why do I continue to live as if He has not been victorious over the evil side of my soul?

It’s so utterly convicting.

So on this Easter Sunday, I challenge you to look at your past. Look at it and truly realize the reality of Christ’s cleansing power through His resurrection. Begin to live your life in light of His victory over your sin. It’s already been wiped clean.

Take your past, your shame, your darkness…and turn the blemishes of regret into badges of glory. 

Because in His eyes, they’ve been just that all along.