New Beginnings

comparing is the worst.

i love when i read a passage that includes well-known verses, only to find that what stirs my soul more powerfully are the verses that surround it.

My soul continually remembers [my affliction] and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.”

The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks Him.
It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him;
let him put his mouth in the dust - there may yet be hope;
let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults.
For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
for He does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.

To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth, to deny justice in the presence of the Most High, to subvert a man in his lawsuit, the Lord does not approve.
Who has spoken and it come to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?
Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?
Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins?

Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord!
Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven…

Lamentations 3:20-41 

A poem written by B.F. Maiz, for a couple on the day of their 62nd wedding anniversary.

Holy September Sabbath

When,
On that Holy September Sabbath Morning
We Together
   You and I
Locked Our Lives
I promised, through all the ripe and painted Autumns
to walk with you
Through the bleak and icy Winters
   I made a vow to cuddle with you
Through the fresh and resurrecting Springs
   I took an oath to accompany you
And I swore to love you
   Through the green and sunlit Summers

Now,
On this Late September Sabbath Evening
Our lives Together, still Locked
I renew my promise
   I restate my oath
      I reaffirm my vow
And with the sincerity of a Pristine Priest
   White frocked and cloaked in holy ceremony to swear to love his God
I do swear, once again
   To Love You
Yes,
Even longer than forever
Yes,
Even longer than forever

I used to see singleness as being without a significant other, and being in a relationship as having been given a significant other… but this is not true.

Singleness is something that’s given, and taken away when God gives a significant other in its stead. When we see people get into a relationship, all we see is their excitement for what’s to come; we tend overlook what they’re leaving behind. 

He gives and takes away, only to give again.

we all want to be in intimate relationships - ones with depth - but in order to have it, we must first be vulnerable. with vulnerability comes risk, and with risk, the possibility of pain.