I saw your face today and barely recognized it.

And despite the lack of longing I felt at your features...

I still ached from the lingering feeling of your thumb running the length of my spine. Your voice still whispered and caught in the silence between my ears. My hands still hovered at your hips and the nape of your neck just before my fingers knit themselves into your hair. Your breath sat lead-heavy on my lips. And my teeth wished to scrape deep fissures across your collar bones.

And hello, have we met?

Her mind was a hive

Buzzing thoughts were like bees

Busy; no rest

This industrious she

Her soul was a shadow

Emotions; the dark

Endless grasping the nothing

In search of her heart

Her heart’s a cocoon

Wrapped in silk, where she died

Emerging from ashes

With beauty to flight

The earth is round.

It still spins even though you are gone.

The sky is blue.

The birds still fly and carry on.

My heart is broken.

It still beats and gives me life.

My soul is bruised.

It still has hope amidst the strife.

A young girl named Anna

One day, grew tired

Of the rags she was given

She longed for a dress,

Of the finest silk

And the brightest color

However, her parents

Simply would not have it,

Preferring to spend the money

On petty entertainment

One day, Anna grew tired

Of this meager life she lived,

And in her heart, she still yearned

For a dress of her own

She didn't have the finest materials,

Or the most exotic colors,

But Anna had herself

Instead of silk or satin,

She decided to don

The scarlet red

Of her own virgin blood

Soon, Anna's body

Was wrapped in crimson,

The thick liquid covering

Every pale inch of flesh,

A garment that would never wash away

As her life slowly faded,

Anna merely smiled,

A manic giggle leaving her lips

Finally, it was hers

The finest, most beautiful dress

God’s Purpose

The priceless perfume falls to the floor, scattered in brokenness. In disbelief we face two choices: wasted or restored. When facing our personal brokenness, any hope of restoration often eludes us. It seems safer to accept the loss -- unaware of God’s hand in brokenness.

God calls us each of us according to His purpose, assuring us that in all things, His goodness endures.

Freed from Shame – “...I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high” (Leviticus 26:13). As we walk closely with God, our burden of guilt is broken.

Delivered from Schemes – “We escaped like a bird from a hunter’s trap. The trap is broken, and we are free!” (Psalm 124:7). Praise God for the countless times He has delivered us from our enemies.

Rescued in Humility – “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18). By surrendering our stubbornness and arrogance, He accepts our brokenness and hears the prayers of the righteous.

Healed from Within – “But he was wounded and crushed for our sins...and we were healed!”(Isaiah 53:5). Those who trust in the Lord receive inner peace, as His brokenness satisfies God’s price for our sin.

Restored Eternally – “...He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18). Jesus, the long-waited Messiah, fulfills the Isaiah 61:1-2 prophesy of renewal.

Brokenness – God’s Love Through brokenness, we understand sacrificial love. Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, offered the broken vial of expensive perfume to express her devotion to Jesus (John 12:1-3). Jesus, the Bread of Life, broke and multiplied the loaves illustrating none would go hungry (Matthew 14:19-20; John 6:35).

Love that Breaks – “Jesus took a loaf of bread and asked God’s blessing on it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, ‘Take it and eat it, for this is my body’” (Matthew 26:26).

Love that Endures – “These things happened in fulfillment of the Scriptures that say, ‘Not one of his bones will be broken’...” (John 19:36)

Love that Remembers – “...The Lord Jesus took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is given [broken] for you. Do this in remembrance of me’” (1 Corinthians 11:23-24).

https://www.allaboutgod.com/brokenness.htm

Imagine how differently

the Word might appear

if the gospels were written

by Him whom they hold dear.

Imagine how differently

he may have writ

of events that he lived

as he saw fit.

Imagine how He might have viewed

how his Name has been used

’cross centuries and continents

Waging war, torture, death, abuse.

Imagine what he might have thought

of religions that arose

to pay homage to him

and the ideas that he posed,

that led to pomp and ceremony

and strict laws and beliefs

but few actually living

as he himself had preached;

when all that he encouraged

was to live as he had done

to love each other as oneself

and to love God, the One.

I think he might cry

to see how his words and life

have been entombed in a Book

leaving the world full of strife.

War and Peace,

Break and Make,

Take and Give,

Evoke and Invoke,

Live and let live!

Fopdoodle and Salmagundi

Two of my favourite words

Unheard these days, so sad to say

Less common now than swords.

An insignificant wretch or fool

And meat with pickled fish

With onions and some other stuff

Sounds such a tasty dish

They’ve gone the way of liplabour

Habnab and kissingcrust

Such beauty in those olden words

Return to them we must!

Let Fopdoodle and Salmagundi

Be lessons to us all

A wretched fool with pickled fish

Is bound, someday, to fall.

Fopdoodle and Salmagundi https://g.co/kgs/1KFnAn

Beauty

From small rose to growing tree

Innocent child to wisened grandparent

Moments held in loving arms

Sweet faithful hearts

Gorgeous creation and all its creatures

Alive, breathing, prosperous life

Bringing brightness in the dark folds of space

Bright saphire and emerald

Glittering in the suspension of gravity

A gem of the universe, so beautiful

All these beautiful things that shine...

The treachery of it all

From small hateful comments

To growing attacks of violence

Unjust moments held in criminal silence

Hardened lost hearts

Crumbling creation and endangered creatures

Hunted, murdered, decaying in death

Bringing darkness in the brightness of innocence

Dark charcoal and smoke

Fogging over the remains of humanity

An infection in the universe, so contagious

All the beautiful things soon die

Never lasting, no matter how hopeful

Everything dies in the end

And all that is said is: how tragic!

But the truth remains hidden to the present's eyes

Oh, the treachery of beautiful things!