Crazier Than Christmas

Crazier than Christmas

For the past two years, I have heard several versions of this phrase. 

It was said not in reference to a particular day,

Not in reference to a particular life event,

Nor was it in reference it in reference to any one thing going on in the world. 

What was this phrase in reference to? 

It was in reference to a particular month, May to be exact. 

On the surface the reason for this seems obvious. 

There are so many things that consume this month. 

School is ending. 

Graduations are happening. 

Retirements are taking place. 

Calendars are burgeoning, while the first itch of summer fun wants to pull us away from all of these responsibilities. 

This confluence of events seems to tell the tale of why this month is so crazy, but this does not tell the whole story. 

If you look, the answer is as simple as, the rewards of toiling at life's soil start to be realized. The mix of the soil, water, and seeds that we have wokrked so hard to fertilize begin to take root and our leaves reach toward the sun. However, what seems so innocent is also where the craziness begins. This is wher we realize the next phase our life is about to begin, And we wonder...

How will the next school year go?

What will I do with this degree?

Where will this next phase Iife take me?

This craziness seems to center around what happens when the construction phase of life ends, and we start to feel the growing pains again. We do have an event to fall back on in all of this. This type of transition has happened on a much larger scale, when a carpenter died and came back as a gardener with instructions for us to continue to grow. Because of this gardener we should not feel alone when the weeds of life start to come up around us. This gardener never stops tilling, even during the time that is crazier than Christmas. 

The Farmer

 

In the beginning, my place was set.

To feed and cultivate the weak
From the trough, my story began.
So that the babes I feed may live

It is a constant cycle.

Working everyday with Levi on my bib
The light breathing life into my crops
The rain washing out its impurities

In the fall, the harvest is destined.

There is pain and joy in the end.
Our fruits produce bread for the winter.
We build our lives around the faith of risen dough in the morning.

This is the legacy I leave.

To constantly remain behind the ox and plow
With Levi emblazoned on your bib
Helping keep the weak fed.
For in the end, the dough will rise in the morning. 

 

Fallen

An imperfect world.
A creation fallen from Grace.
A ripe fruit for all...
Now a faith as wild as a mustard seed.

Our minds tame faiths wild nature.
Focusing on the predetermined goal.
Asking, How do I fit into God's plan?
Why would He save my soul?

All the while, outside the bonds of his creation.
Feeling the prong of forces trying to block His way.
Asking, Why will they not accept my intercession of Love?
How can my Love keep the darkness at bay,
Before this creation and unopened hearts pass away?

Lenses

Better or Worse?
A slight refraction of light
Shows us what is in plain sight
Such a small change gives perspective

A change of position
A single point unskewed
If we step back we see another's view.
Atticus do we dare to walk in another's shoes

After seeing the full array
We should examine the question
To what ends are the motivations
Better or Worse?

A Head Turns

A simplistic motion
A twitch of a muscle
A head turns

The death of a foreign enemy
The celebration of justice
A head turns

In the blink of an eye
What was once here is blown away
A head turns

In a crowded room
Friends share company
Looking for what may or may not be
A head turns

An inward look
Is the result what you would like it the be
A head turns

As the head turns from personal motives
A new muscle turns the head
This muscle gives us "the peace that passeth all understanding"

The new motion shades our perspective.
The motion is there
Do we dare to chose it?
I say Dona nobis pacem

A head turns

Hello Walls

Its been a long time.

Walls of Confinement
Walls of Comfort
Walls of Security
Walls of out own making

These are the parameters that keep things manageable.
They make us feel comforted. As if we are the ones who
deal fates ultimate hand.

Society teaches us this from a young age which is why I ask the question:
Why do we make kids color inside the lines, and then for the rest of their
lives try to make them think outside the box?

Are we stifling the creative impulse?

Are we building these walls brick by brick around us?

Does the creative thinking we try to foster in others fall flat when we set up
our own monumental walls?

My answer is Faron you may say hello to your walls, but I am not going to stick
around and get acquainted with mine.

JAB

Marchng to the Off-Beat.

It is the silence between the notes.
It is the collagen between the cells that makes us.
It is the electricity that jumps from synapse to synapse that moves us.
It is the time when we put our faith on the line and God guides us.

We don't understand the direction, but we know it is right.
Each person that helps us pushes us through the spaces in our lives.
Do we recognize it? Are we looking for the support between our defining moments?
Our motivations seem hard wired into us, but do we realize the help that sustains us?

On the other hand, do we dare to be the silence between the notes?
Do we dare to be the mortar that holds the bricks of our lives and the lives of others together?
Will we be apart off the shocking force that propels each and every one of us to our destiny?
And finally, are we so bold to have the faith that lets God make the Difference?

How do we get to our destiny? One step into the silence at a time.
As we march to the off-beat.