What if the free gift of salvation
(Greek:sozo-to be made whole)
is simply
the ability to know the truth
about who you really are?
And what if knowing this truth
is key to living
a life full of peace and joy
with no regrets and no fear...
of hell and death and punishment and
rejection...
because in truth
there is none?
What if "hell" is the false reality
we create for ourselves
and live now
because we have believed a lie?
What if the God who is Love truly
keeps NO record of wrongs?
Nor condemns us?
What if knowing the truth about ourselves...
that we are good
because our Creator says so...
really does set us
free?
"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." ~Anais Nin
Thoughts From my Walk:
The
Son wasn't about changing the mind of the Father because the
Father's love for Creation...for us, his sons and daughters...has always been with heart and mind and arms
wide open.
Jesus had no identity crisis. He knew he was the Word of God concerning ALL of us made flesh, a living LOVE letter. Jesus was our older brother sent to convince us to change OUR minds by living his life as the mirror in which we see our true selves...and in which we see the truth of our origin.
God is LOVE. And because we originate in LOVE, so we are, in our true nature...LOVE.
The world tells a different story. And makes God out to be an angry, disappointed, failure of a Dad. In ignorance we have believed the deception. Why does it seem too good to be true that our very nature...the one made in the image and likeness of Creator...is just as good as He is? Only LOVE can reveal the truth of how good it is to be you and me!
Beautiful like blossoms, we wake to the light. LOVE frees us to let go of the shadowy shells of who we thought we were and risk all to grab hold of the I AM shining bright within!
When we get to know and love our true selves...when we get to know our Father who is LOVE in the heart of us...we will see LOVE bloom for others like never before. ♡
Photos: Blossoms from our front yard. Copyright Melissa Campbell 2014. All rights reserved.
In
the last several weeks, spending time with my physically and emotionally
exhausted parents as they worked their butts off and weeded through a
life-time of memories, memorabilia and material possessions, so much of
it tied to great adventures and real-life stories and loved ones past
and present...in the midst of all the work in their letting go, we were
blessed to experience a most beautiful and holy thing.
We saw LOVE face to face.
LOVE in the gathering of family, friends, neighbors
and co-workers to help where they could, loading machinery (my dad's
garage was an outdoors-man's and engineer's dream), stopping by with
food, calling to get together one last time, reminiscing, not wanting
the relationships to come to an end.
LOVE in friends who were family, who showed up day after day just to be there and make sure everything was going okay.
LOVE in the exchange of phone numbers over lunch just so we would have them.
LOVE in grown men tearing up and holding hugs and buying mugs
with my dad's name on at the garage sale so they could always think of
him when they drank their coffee.
LOVE stepping in and
making sure my dad's Harley and my grandfather's pitchfork and all the
other things that mattered but couldn't go along would have a good home.
LOVE in the new owners who fell in love, not just with a house, but a home, and wanted all of us to be part of the deal.
We saw LOVE like never before in the baking and sharing of bread (and
pizza and cinnamon rolls), in the serenading with kazoos, and in the
shine of eyes and hearts and words...and sometimes the inability to say
anything at all...of everyday, loving, beautiful and hard-working people
whose children even cried when we all said Good-bye.
LOVE working out every detail no matter how small, and constantly
confirming with peace and hope that "this" was the way to go.
LOVE loving and caring for one another in the beauty of
friendship, promising and making plans to see each other again. And I
realized, there is no greater thing! When we love and are loved, we
create a place for God to rest.
...Or is it this? God has created a place in us that we may know Love and invite every other to join us?
This LOVE never ends. And
never gives up. For Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy,
it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is
not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of
wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It
always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love
keeps going to the very end...and beyond.
LOVE is what holds us all and brings us back together. Love never fails. ♡
There
couldn't have been a more beautiful day for Easter here in Western
Pennsylvania. There was no church service for us. No colored eggs, no
dressing up to impress, no sermon or singing in the Sunday choir. Just a
morning walk with hubby under the bluest of skies, surrounded not by
walls of doctrine and the rules of tradition, but everything living and
springing to life...
There was the joyful serenade of birdsong and a good soaking
of sunshine, the happy greetings of pets and neighbors, the laughing (at
ourselves) and loving and spending the day with family, sharing a meal,
telling our stories, digging through treasure, unwrapping the gifts of
each other, and falling asleep counting our blessings.
We are
learning...to live our lives in freedom with joy and gratitude, to see
God in the beauty and wonder of nature and each other, to love and be
loved, to count it and us all as worthy (worth it!)
Yesterday Mom and I were looking
through old silver and flatware that belonged to my great-grandmother,
Marie Black Murtland. She was a wonderful woman (so I'm told) who was
adored by my dad, and who died much too young when he was just a boy. A
friend made this ring for my mom from one of her spoons, and yesterday,
Mom gave it to me.
Every time I look at it's shine I
think of of those who came before me, my ancestors who held this same
spoon in their hard-working and wonderful hands. Was it part of a
wedding gift perhaps? Or did my great-grandfather sacrifice to buy it?
I think of Marie washing and drying and laying it away time and time
again, handing it to my dad when he was teething or to her son for a
taste of what she was cooking--her 2nd son was my Dad's dad; he also
died much too young at 33, just a few years after she did.
I think of
this spoon touching the lips of the generations with love and
sustenance, shining bright with the reflection of life and words shared,
and what it must have been like to sit around their table. Did they
know how wonderful they were? Did they appreciate each other? Did they
laugh and cry and show affection?
I think it strange I know about
them, but they had no clue of me. How one day I would wear their
history there on my hand and cherish their stories deep within my heart. How I would shine their light as part of my own, and wonder what it might be
like to know them face to face, heart to heart, hand to hand.
Thanks
for the ring, Mom! I love you and Dad so much it hurts.
And thank you, Dad, for choosing to overcome and pass
on this Murtland legacy! This circle of life, it's all becoming clearer the more we see with our hearts.
With little children, one doesn't need to look
long to see the light of God. Love runs full from their faces.
With adults, it's not always so easy.
But we're all swimming in a sea of it. And if we take the time to look
deep into the eyes of another we'll see our own beautiful
reflection. We'll see each other ALL as little children...ALL
twinkling light. Some newborn and needing breath. Others, fanning into
flame. And those rare few, blazing bright a pathway before us.
My sister and I made a new friend at Panera Bread yesterday. After a chance encounter with a favorite high-school teacher, we were deep in conversation, catching up over what Panera does best: Frontega Chicken Panini with Tomato Soup and my Roasted Turkey Harvest Wheat-Berry Salad, coffee and a strawberry scone (a mouthful to order, but so worth it.)
Awkwardly, and without words, a silly girl wooed our attention. We didn't see at first the brilliance of her light.
Pretending she was a zombie from The
Walking Dead, Madison "M-a-d-d-i-e" Grace stumbled by our table three times in hand-me-down clothes--as we found out later from her mother--before I said hello.
Our invitation was the very thing she hoped for. Flipping long blond hair out of big blue eyes she came alive.
And without warning, jumped right into the fold of our hearts. We had the feeling she
was a gift from the very beginning, in the way she spelled her name several times over so we would remember. I Googled it just a while ago. Madison is from Matthew, and means, Gift of God.
And Grace,
well, GRACE is a gift too...offavor and goodwill...
...ofbeauty and blessing ALL freely given.
GRACE is God permanently weaving Himself into the hearts of all His children, through the hearts of mankind, making LOVE known.
Our meeting with Grace wasn't a little thing. She was bright and bold, and quite the drama queen. Yet, she wasn't sure of her last name. Was it her mom's or dad's or grandfather's? One was from Russia, and another from Italy; and she was from ALL the other places, too.
We heard the
message loud and clear--it resonated like a heartbeat, the joyful coming alive of our inner knowing--from a little girl who worked so hard to be so known.
Amazing
Grace, how sweet the sound. Thesong of this GRACE-child was especially sweet in the ears of We-Like-Sheep who, at some point, had lost our way and wandered as if all alone.
Like M-a-d-d-i-e did with us, GRACE leaves the flock grazing in greenest pasture, on grass and forbs and clover--she left her mother and grandmother drinking coffee in a booth at Panera--to go and find The One.
And we, like little lambs slung up around the shoulders, can rest and trust the heart of a Father who cares only for his sheep. As his most loved little children, He will lead us home.
We can choose to fill our bellies full of GRACE today. We can become as little children and know as we are known--face to face, with nothing in between.
We can look within and see our WAY--the narrow path that leads straight beyond the Valley of Shadows. And we will fear no evil. ForPerfect Loveruns ahead to meet us where
GRACE--a gift--always leads us.
Where beauty and blessing chase and feed us.
And wherechild-like, we let go and learn to
be ourselves again, wholly loved and wholly accepted, no strings
attached.
GRACE is always free for the asking. She does what she has to to grab our attention, and then joyfully anticipates a welcoming "Hello."
To know LOVE like an ocean lapping at my shore, filling me to the full and wrapping me warm with all that LOVE is...
To listen to the music of family and friends, a songbird waking the dawn, the buttery smooth strings of a violin or acoustic guitar and our girls laughing, the telling of their stories, their calling me, "Mom"...
To be overcome with wonder, the extravagant beauty of nature, the changing of seasons, holding hands and remembering, dreaming, the flash of fireflies and stars dancing in the night sky, the comfort of my husband's shoulder...
To LOVE and be loved with such utter abandon, to live face to face with light, following a path that only we can take together with no thought of turning back and no
regrets...
To share the ups and downs--the every day joys and sorrows, wins and losses, challenges and celebrations, the waking and sleeping--with a wonderful man at my
side, one that just happens to be my best friend...
To give what I am--what a privilege-- to see our three beautiful and incredible daughters and one son-in-law bloom with their destiny, live life in the wonder of reality, knowing LOVE for themselves, and helping others to fly with them...free...
To rest content--like an eagle soaring--in who I am, in who I have yet to be...
To carry the treasure of precious ones who have gone before me, knowing there is no separation. In Christ we are all one...
I am overwhelmed with blessing today. Love spills down my cheeks for all of you--everyone that I've known--you mean much to me.
My family...YOU are my joy. I love you more than words can say.
Photo: Autumn Leaves by
Mark Schellhase CC Attribution Share Alike 2.5 Generic
LAST DANCE
When the light of harvest begins to dim
Cornfields and wheat fields expose their skin
And every fruitful tree reaches high with grace
Bare arms still warm with October
Blue dome bleeds gold and crimson
Burning bush shouts epiphany, of substance running hidden
Through veins now scandalous with Autumn's farewell
Every leaf flashes fiery color
Like confetti in twilight they scatter and spin
Twirl their skirts and whirl with the Wind
Then fall breathless--I like getting caught in their rain--not wanting
The last dance to be over
Creation smiles, eyes wide with wonder
When Autumn's foliage pools at her feet, covers the toes of this beholder
Tempting me child-like to twirl and leap, to follow as she returns
Life-spent to the One who made her
It can be fun to pretend we're someone else.
But there is nothing better than TRUE SELF.
Behind all the make-believe lies a treasure waiting to be unearthed. Buried deep, most have forgotten true identity. Into the darkness Jesus comes to reveal what only the eyes of a child can see:
The "pearl of great price" is YOUR authentic, beautiful self. YOU are God's reality.
You are a daughter. A son. A forever free and full of light, formed in the image and likeness of your Creator "one."
You are "I Am."
Unique in your own, beautiful way, a living STONE, created to perfectly connect with every other in the Sustainer of ALL Humanity, you are equally loved, valued, celebrated and adored by the Father.
In this LOVE there is a way to be REAL, a way that originates and culminates in LIFE...in happily ever after. Your story is His story. Beginning and end, and all the chapters in between,
have already been written on the pages of your heart by the Author who is Love.
Listen to your heart! In the deepest darkness, God IS! In he center of your being God dances and sings, and shines brilliantly with the revelation of YOU.
One need only get quiet and listen. Open eyes to see.
Be
willing to lose the layers, all the dress-up clothes that keep you hiding.
Let go of false reality, false identity, every lie, religion.
Stop hating and judging the one who God says is GOOD... the one that is wonderful You.
Hear and believe the truth for yourself.
Follow the Light into LOVE. Behold LOVE...there in the center of you!
Be loved.
Be...love.
The world is (literally) dying to meet you, the real you, the beautiful, wonderful and amazing, all-set-free-by-Truth-in-LOVE you.
"Arise, shine, for your light has come! And the glory of I AM rises upon you." ~Isaiah 60:1
There
is much to learn from a bird that sings. With no thought to an audience, she lives to celebrate her song. Her voice surrounds in the sweet serenade of
sunsets; her praise, awakens the dawn.
Every day dancing to the sway of earth's rhythms, she forages, mates and procreates. An inner knowing guides her in the building of a nest. In the watching over her young. In teaching ancient melodies that draw her family in.
And these fledglings, all too soon pushed from the nest, their tiny wings learn to rest on a substance sensed, not seen. Reaching for sky, they soar. Feathers mirror sunlight--all iridescence-- when they are caught up one by one into the wonder.
Even on those days when only God listens, the colors, the flight, the fledgling songs--every note--all resonate with the
sound of His singing, inviting the earth to be one with Him...
"For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
not by works, so that no one can boast."
The Greek word for "grace" is "charis," and means: gift, goodwill, loving kindness, favor, something that brings joy, pleasure, delight, and is freely given.
"Saved" is "sozo": to keep safe, rescue from danger or destruction, save from suffering, heal, make well, restore to wholeness, deliver from the penalties of the law.
Faith in the Greek is "pistis": conviction of the truth.
Paul
uses, "it is the gift of God," to describe not just our
salvation, but the faith through which it comes! Both are a gift from
the One who saves us. (Rom. 12:3) Long ago, when we lost sight of God,
we forgot who He was and who He created us to be. In the darkness of our fallen condition,
religion was born--our attempt to serve and appease an angry god, one created
in our own image (and imagination.)
But in the midst of darkness, light shines! Before time
began--before we were created in our mother's womb--God came to our
rescue! God became the way for us to be restored into Love and
discover our true identities as beloved sons and daughters
Paul says in Hebrews 11:1: Faith is the "hypostasis" or substance of
things hoped for, the evidence (proof, conviction) of things unseen.
(Hypostasis is defined as: a setting or placing under; confidence; that
which is real, has actual existence, substance, foundation, is firm,
enables one to stand.)
Faith is not our struggling efforts to somehow reach up and touch God, to
grasp hold of a lifeline and hang on for dear life. Faith is God's embrace--His own faithfulness and assurance, His
word and promise fulfilled in the finished work of Jesus--that He has
saved us.
Jesus said, "It is finished!" In Jesus, everything
needed for life and godliness has freely been given to us, from the Father
to his sons. Jesus' faith becomes our faith. His righteousness becomes
our righteousness. His victory over sickness, sin and death becomes our
victory. His life and love and joy become our life and love and joy.
Jesus' relationship with the Father and the Spirit has always included us!We have been given a seat of honor and authority right beside
Jesus! And this is how it has been from the beginning! We just didn't
know it.
With God's gift of faith, we can stand at rest in his
victory and know without a doubt that nothing can come between us and
His love. In Jesus--the meeting place--we are reconciled with our
Father in heaven--with this Creator who IS love, who from the beginning
has never stopped loving and speaking life into all.
And heaven meets
earth...within us, where God gathers...as reality and substance and glory of what isn't
seen.
Always burning in the Holy Place,
two servants serving the Lord night and day;
the oil runs clear through the presses.
God-eyes probing dark earth corners,
casting light for blind to see,
from blossoms on branches of the Almond Tree.
Not by might nor power, but intimately,
by The Spirit of the Lord of Angel Armies,
the oil runs clear through the presses
from blossoms on branches of the Almond Tree.
Then the angel who talked with me returned and woke me up, like someone awakened from sleep. He asked me, “What do you see?”
I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven channels to the lamps. Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”
Today is Day 2 in the Days of Light series. Please join me for the next 6 days as I continue to light a candle in words to highlight the Coming of our Lord as celebrated by some in Advent and The Festival of Lights.
I was inspired recently by L.L. Barkat to write a villanelle. The Almond Tree is the fruit of my efforts. I am so glad I took her up on the challenge. To learn about this rhyme-scheme, you can visit Seedlings in Stone.
to reign in the kingdom while stewarding the earth.
We were designed to overcome darkness,
to be the balm that heals the hurts of thousands,
to give the thirsty a drink of hope.
We were fashioned by the hands of a Dreamer,
to dream His dreams and flesh them out,
to inspire the world to do the same.
We were spoken spirit, each given unique,
to live and laugh and love extravagantly--like He does,
to lay our lives before Him--glory!
We were born to walk in light.
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. ~ John 8:12 (NKJV )
Today is Day 1 in the Days of Light series. Please join me for the next 7 days as I continue to light a candle in words to highlight the Coming of our Lord as celebrated by some in Advent and The Festival of Lights.
We returned home from a vacation to Ocean Isle Beach just in time for hurricane Sandy to hit the East Coast. In the weeks prior to leaving, I had a sense of foreboding. Something big was about to happen, and I questioned in my spirit if we should go. God gave me peace and the energy to pack.
The weather couldn't have been more beautiful. Sunny days in the 70's and water still warm enough to swim. Locals told us we picked the perfect week to come. A crowd welcomed us to the island. It was the 32nd Annual North Carolina Oyster Festival. We visited Pelican's Perch for bowls of award winning chowder and were blessed in talking with Congressional candidate David Rouzer whose grandfather founded a town in our state.
Maybe it was because the girls weren't with us (which I lamented!) And maybe it was because Someone bigger than us knew we needed a break. In either case, we were grateful, and had one of the most relaxing vacations ever.
A ferry ride and tour of Bald Head Island, kayaking, bicycling, shopping for a birthday gift and celebrating with cake and ice cream after, eating meals together, watching wildlife from our deck and waking up early to see the sunrise, movie night with The Hatfields and McCoys and popcorn until the wee hours of the morning...all this and more, and it was hard to say good-bye.
Saturday came, and we pulled out, the island appearing to be deserted except for the cry of gulls and a few lights from those battening the hatches. During the ride home we prayed, hoping the storm would spin back out to sea.
It rained the whole way into Pennsylvania. We were glad to be home. In a stack of mail I found CD's, ones I ordered a month earlier from a distribution company, hoping to take them with me to the beach. There had been a mix-up, and an apology. The artists refunded my payment and sent the CD's personally with a note...as their gift.
Through the storm I listened, the beauty of the music catching me up into high places where fear and hopelessness don't exist. I was amazed at how easily I could go back to OIB in my thoughts and remember how I saw the Creator everywhere...
...swimming with a school of dolphins
...walking the sands at dawn
.. exploring wynds on a tropical island...
...eating a meal together with loved ones
...admiring creation through the windows of a century old lighthouse...
...riding high the wind and waves and sun
...catching breath as fish flash like silver in the moonlight
...finding delight in a bush full of butterflies
...swaying to the dance of wildlife surrounding...
...resting under cottony clouds hung from the bluest of skies...
...watching the sun rise...and rest...all glorious and golden...
...soaking it all in, and knowing our God, He is good...
...and his love endures forever.
As I listened to Jonathan and Melissa, my spirit flew like a bird and my soul danced with the violins, and I knew God was here now, even in the storm.
I saw Him standing strong as a lighthouse in the mountains as we journeyed to our promised land, and looming just as majestically in the gray on the trek home, trees once color-splashed in splendor and crowned with the glory that comes in dying now silent, cold and bare.
I saw Him looking out through the eyes of people I met along the way, brown-skinned and wrinkled and freckled and fair, all inviting me in...to listen...to care...to be one with Him...the very One whose Spirit lives inside...and to feel His love oozing into empty places...like sand squishing between the toes.
I saw Him in the letting go...of my need to stay hidden, to be strong...of my fear of being exposed. Storms have a way of doing that. Of shaking what can be shaken, and unearthing what cannot stay hidden. Self-preservation only holds us captive, keeps us from truly living.
But in the letting go, our souls explode, and we fly free!
I can still hear Him saying...in these songs by Melissa and David...in all of creation and its groaning, in the people and things we encounter daily, in the beauty of life's colors and in the pounding of storms:
It's time to wake up sons and daughters. Shake the dust from your feet and stand. Great grace has been given...the kind that moves mountains and makes a way for you to walk across the sands. There is so much more of what I have planned for you...in the here and now...and in the days yet to come! Don't stop now. It's a new day. And you've only just begun.
Be blessed, friends!
From On the Shores by David and Melissa Helser:
(Before listening, you may want to pause the SoundClick to the right of this blog!)
Explode My Soul
by Melissa and David Helser
(lyrics)
Whisper my name so only I can hear Call to my heart, chase away my fears Stand up in this place, fight for the one you love Won't you come surround me, so I can rise above Explode my soul, let these walls come down All these prison thoughts crumble with the sound Of my deliverance from my enemies I stand up beside you, let's watch these giants flee Let the silence be broken, and the winter be done Will you come out of your hiding, kiss me sweet warm sun Let the wind of your spirit blow the dust off my feet I ran to you broken but now I'm complete Hello Promised Land, we've waited for so long To see what we've believed in, to sing this Promised Land song Explode my soul, explode with praise What he promised is what he gave
We landed in ripples, like a flock of blue-birds on a mid-winter's day, hungry and tracking the light. At the end of a well-worn path winding up three flights of stairs, we found sanctuary--an upper room shot with sunbeam. Fifty years one day early, we came to celebrate and were surrounded, the atmosphere pregnant with joy of those who came before us.
We didn't have to say it. We could sense Him there as well, winging His way through each of us, and shining light on 50 years. A jubilee! Every day our lives proclaim it. Love shines through the ages and in the eyes of ones who see.
I used to think God was angry and lived far away. He definitely wouldn't be caught in a brewery, or loving the likes of me. I didn't know Him then. But I have watched Heaven make its home in this family one ripple at a time. And I have seen love shining through every generation, in all of us vowing to never let go, and to never stop giving each other wings to fly...the way that lovers do.
Ripples...
Heaven came in our hearts that day, in our gathering to honor a covenant, and in that burn of beam breaking through the panes, shimmering over the scarred wood of a tavern table, and kissing cheeks golden before circling on the pub wall behind were my parents sat.
Ahhh, God was there--I am convinced of it--for 3 hours, eating, drinking, singing and laughing! Did you know God laughs? And he doesn't mind a beer or two, the guys sampling ale and all of us getting high on the sugary perfection of a strawberry-filled, almond-iced cake--where just an hour earlier two love-birds perched under a canopy of gold and ribbons.
Over coffee my parents opened gifts and cards. And for another hour we reminisced, how years ago they rode away on a Honda Gold Wing, leaving us with our grandparents for weeks at a time to travel the states--all but one--and, "Wouldn't it be nice if this year they could tour the 50th--across the waves to Hawaii-- on their Harley?"
The sun crept slow toward the horizon, its laser beam falling like blessing on Mom and Dad.
No one wanted to leave, but we carried love and laughter across the street to say good-bye under the eaves of the gazebo. Still singing and acting silly, we snapped photos: of Dad holding Mom's purse and all of us holding each other for warmth.
Our family is like that, never waning to let go.
Earlier in the day, before light dawned, I pondered a legacy--this marriage of half a century and its ripples--of two lives coming together to impact so many. And somewhere in the dark I caught a glimpse of how we all intersect in ways seen and unseen--except by the Spirit.
I remembered waves and Physics class--how boring it was to me then!--and how when opposites meet (a crest and trough) they stop to catch their breath and disappear, becoming one with the way they are traveling. And when two waves of like mind connect ( 2 crests or 2 troughs) they combine to magnify the height or depth of each other.
In both cases, the ripples continue to wash through each other in continued movement, their energy effecting change in the world around them.
I Googled, and saw how the graphs of the points of intersection of two sets of waves form back-to-back hyperbolas...
...like two sets of wings touching shoulder to shoulder and moving in unison...
...like two lives taking flight as one...
...and our parents catching us up to ride the tailwinds like we did as children on the back of their motorcycle, heads thrown back, holding on for life, faces to the sun...
...and our running to hide under their feathers when the storms came...
...and when all seemed shadow, how they shielded us, sometimes imperfectly with feathers broken, but always persevering, ebbing and flowing, giving and gathering, washing through each other with life.
Because of our legacy--because of the Light we see--we too, have learned to overcome, to never stop seeking and believing, always digging deeper and returning to love.
And Love, like waves, washes through, imparting from those before us and to those yet to come, the strength and inspiration to fly free, to carry on.
To ripple.
So the journey continues, of ripples and wings, all golden. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! This is for you, with love.
Of Ripples and Wings
Like the ripples from two stones dropped into a pond, two worlds collide in a million points of light. Two words splash from the heart of God and dance the waves of time, weaving a tale of faith, hope and love, in mortal flesh combining.
Two hearts reaching wide, gather grace and impact lives, share their dreams and sacrifice, and live to tell a story--this prosody of crests, an ebb and flow in water’s depths, each flash of fire and gasp of breath and the perpetual washing through each other, all reflection in the Son.
And golden rings entwine forever, changing the shape of mediocrity, and a life-time of fiery encounters wrap the world in current, filling earth shadows with glory, as waters cover the seas. Two sets of golden wings take flight-- like their Father, splashing light--and two faces burn with His decree.
Let there be light and let there be dancing! Let there be laughter lapping every golden shore when two ships turn in the night, always searching and circling for more. And let this love burn bright a flame of jubilee, leading the way across the waves for many sons and daughters to see and dance and be.
2012 Melissa Campbell
All photos in this blog (with the exception of Ripples by Phillie Casablanca, Flickr) are licensed as: All rights reserved by Melissa Campbell.
All rights reserved by Melissa Campbell.