Nothing

Nothing
will ever fill
the void
inside us,
the God shaped hole
made for Him.

We can cram it
with anything else,
yet satisfaction
will slip like sand
through every part of us.

We are made in the
image of God,
for friendship with God,
to walk in the purposes of God.

We still strike out
on our circular path,
striving for significance,
longing to own
more of this transitory life.

Nothing will make
perfect sense apart
from knowing who
we are in Him,
and for Him,
for we are His creation.

Only when we say
Yes Lord
do we realize
that nothing
can separate us
from His love and life,
that perfectly fills
the void
in you and I.

Collapse Of A Civilization

We are watching
the collapse
of our civilization.

Future history
will say as much.

Scholars will hypothesize
on the details
of its downfall,
and wonder if
the interplay between
economic factors
and social decay
was as strong
as some propose.

Others will study
the legal structures
and political systems,
speculating on
the seeming success,
then fantastic failures
of governments to halt
the downward demise.

Corrupt consciousness,
moral meltdown,
societies sickening slide
won't be seen
in its true darkness,
for humanity is
ever forgiving
of its own sins,
and sadly
that is why
the
collapse
of a civilization
can continue in our days.

Pieces Of My Heart

Pieces of my heart are
missing,
not broken
or destroyed,
more a parting
than a ripping,
for I do not grieve.

Children grow up.

They do that if you
take your eyes
off them
for a moment.

Then inexplicably
they want to leave
your little sphere,
that you naively
presumed they would
always be part of.

They can return of course,
with new loved ones,
tales of adventure and success,
or survival (please spare the details)

It is always harder
for those who are left
than those who go,
especially if those who go
forget to call or write.

I'm not sure if the
pieces of my heart
will ever truly reconnect,
or if that is a parent's calling
to have a fragmented heart
across the globe,
that causes intermittent aching,
but a quiet smile of thankfulness
as treasured memories return.

I am grateful for the gift
that I can know
the depth of love for children
that causes this uncomfortable
sensation now,
and I choose to trust God
to hold me in future days
with the other pieces of my heart.

Southern Israel

National parks
welcoming curious visitors,
ambling among antiquities
imagining centuries old existence.

Masada, cultural icon
and top tourist spot,
sits in frighteningly barren desert,
hostile
harsh
and unforgiving.
Settlements on
the dizzying heights,
vertigo inducing palaces
clinging to cliffs.
Tragic tales of trials
and sacrifice,
death chosen before slavery.

At Ein Gedi
streams in the desert
move from biblical metaphor
to spectacular reality,
as creature and nature
hug the edges of
its life giving flow,
and David's waterfall
sings as grace tumbles
through the scorched earth.

In Qumran's caves
ancient scrolls found
by shepherds.
God's Word to man
preserved in desert air
thick with history,
joy of generations
past and future,
held in this
beloved land.

Western Wall

A sea of bobbing black hats
Sabbath honouring
and tradition holding
Orthodox men pressing their prayers
into the Western Wall.

Women separated by metal grid
dance the Sabbath in
with joyful rhythmic sound.

Other men in prayer caps
and cornered tassels,
arms around each other
sway from side to side,
hearts and minds
united in worship
of The Shekinah presence.

Thousands of paper prayers
stick out of crevasses
of the thick stone blocks.

Flowering bushes
where pigeons find their rest,
cling haphazardly to the heights.

Uniformed soldiers rest their weapons
to jump with joy.

Such joy in this people
who have faced a dreadful history,
survived and now flourish beyond belief.

Chosen and blessed by God,
their prayers at this Western Wall
will ultimately be answered.