Photo by Simon Matzinger
The days move like mercury
the horizon is melting in the heat
I can smell the burn of asphalt
the summertime songs playing on repeat…
The rhythm of life drumming through my skull
the heartbeat of longing comforts me
I can smell the scent of new life
rising up from the salty sea breeze…
Drifting on a sunny day
The days move like mercury
There is nowhere else I’d rather be
than dreaming in this life with you…
Photo by Emre Kuzu
His face sparkled like a multi-faceted diamond. A face that blazed like the sun yet different. A pure white light with flashes of blue, silver, and gold. It hurt my eyes so badly to look at Him but I could not, would not turn my face away. I did not care if I went blind. This face is the One I’d been waiting to see all of my life. His face was all I could look at as if in a trance; like when starting a fire in the Old World. Mesmerizing doesn’t begin to describe it. The blaze was so bright that I could not see anything of His other features at all.
On either side of Him stood two beings, they were a coll alabaster white, not bright white, not shining in any way but pure and cool looking. They each stood facing Him never moving their face from His. They did not speak. They were powerful creatures, I could tell, they were strong and sure of their purpose. They were creatures with a human face that I could recognize and at least seven feet tall and had wings that were about six feet tall and four feet in width. Each feather gently folded into the next. Once for just a second I saw their feathers slightly ruffle from top to bottom and could see these were strong wings. Wings that never faltered when they flew or fought in a battle or stood at attention. I was afraid.
I was so afraid that my legs could no longer hold me. I was eager to kneel down. It felt good to kneel before Him because in the Old World with decaying knee joints I could no longer kneel in His presence. All the while my eyes were burning severely from His brightness. I felt strong in the kneeling as if I, like the two creatures, am created for this very thing.
Then the most incredible thing happened…He knelt down on His knees too and when He did it was the face I knew it would be. His face. The face of softness and kindness. The face of antiquity yet new and fresh. His eyes were not like our eyes. His eyes were not blue, brown, green, or hazel or gray or any of those colors…they were simply Light.
He took his hand and palmed my cheek and spoke to me. The words he spoke I will not share with anyone ever. They were words just between us. Words I had thirsted for since I was formed in my Mother’s womb by my Father’s sinful Adam’s seed. They were words beyond redeeming love, words of My Story with Him, of understanding with healing and further instruction of what is to come. They were words I had never heard spoken before, another language if you will. They were Peace and oh what joy did flood my soul.
At that moment the same blazing light that came from Him entered into me and my eyes no longer burned at all. My sight was inconceivably and brilliantly clear. I belonged there with Him…every “longing” I had ever known in my Eternal Life and even before in the Dead Life stood right there in front of me. Each one of them actually existed before my eyes and each one was finally satiated beyond measure. He smiled at me and pulled me up from my knees and that is when I felt the scars in His hands. Those beautiful wounded hands took mine and we walked among my life, my dreams. As He held my hand in His I knew I would never have to be separated from Him again.
He said, “let’s walk along the place you loved the most in the Old World.”
Gently without fanfare or fear I heard that beautiful love song of waves washing upon the shore. The smell of salt water and life teemed all around me. There was no stench of dead sea life or decay of any kind just the scent of cleanness. The colors of the water was too wonderful for words. Again, I want to keep this precious moment private…this was our beach, just His and mine. We stayed there and looked for shell and other jewels that were of a beauty and colors I have never seen. We waded into the water and even though it was Ocean water we could drink it and it tasted sweet beyond honey. We picked some living anemone flowers and held them and then put them back unscathed into the water. They swam around His feet as if to love on Him. Oh it is a glorious place We sat down in the sand as white and soft as a cloud and we held hands and rested…
Photo by Tina Nord
Oh the smell and sound of my Gulf shore
all of my changes were there
My Texas bayou city and bluebonnets in my soul
my angels were younger then
When I climbed my highest wall
these places cushioned the fall
My sea loving heart and my Texas soul
are the notes in my Holy song
Photo by nagaraju gajula on Pexels.com
Photo by Travis Rupert
Stillness is golden
sunrise over the ocean
Oh what a morning
my eyes did behold
Needless to speak
when it seems so lonely
The silence is healing
in this oh so brief world
Serenity’s healing balm
makes me a believer
Tried to buy more time
but it had all been sold
Photo by Matheus Bertelli
Once I was the girl on the side street flashing in and out of the dark. I was taught a role to play for the well being of my family and for my Dad’s livelihood. I played it well. Such a mix of tender family moments peppered with the fear that maybe Jesus didn’t really come for me…
…now the ocean’s wind catches each regret, each sin, and sorrow throwing it into the eternity of a perfect God to be forever forgotten. In the light of the moon a young woman, who thought the stars would stop shining above her found the Maker of the stars and the freedom and love and the lullaby when He sang a Holy song baptizing over her in waves. So now I am drifting, sailing and it was you who came for me.
On that day when the sun tipped over the edge of the earth and spilled colors like buckets of orange, pink, and violet as a reminder of the power of Holy light. The young woman once ravaged and scarred by guilt and shame found joy in the warmth of The Son. Lifted from the darkness you came for me. You hold me in your arms and by your own wounds, scars, and stripes you heal me. The girl on the side street finally came home…
Photo by Snapwire
Like a message in a bottle bobbing in the water
Sun bleached and salty skinned I washed upon the shore
I am made from stronger stuff than it appeared
being born an old soul, competent and sure
I wished for middle ground, something I could manage
But grief always takes sides in things that really matter
The literal peeling of my skin and raw down to the marrow
I wanted to die and be done with the making of this sorrow
Then a warm hand put a cup of water to my mouth
I lapped it up as if water wasn’t all around me
A voice said, ” I am grief and I am not here to take you under
But you must take a side in things that really matter.”
Photo by Pixabay
Blue crystal deepest ocean
Hot sun high in the sky
The devil came to Cuba
Had to run or die
You came seeking refuge
The way so unclear
Fighting hard for freedom
You let me see the years
We are old and wise now
We cannot count the “ifs”
I still hear your Latin song
And taste Cuba on my lips
Photo by rawpixel.com
Sea
No people
There is a secret
No footprints in the sand
Artistry
Sounds like the waves
As a matter of fact
Unforgettable
Sunday
So natural like a heartbeat
The look of love
In a happy house
Photo on Pexels.com
The ocean’s wind catches each regret, each sin, and sorrow throwing it into the eternity of a perfect God to be forever forgotten. In the light of the moon a young woman, who thought the stars would stop shining above her found the Maker of the stars and the freedom and love and the lullaby He sang washing over her in waves. So now I am drifting, sailing free in the light of summer love and I know that I am saved. I know that I was lost and you came to find me.
On that day when the sun tipped over the edge of the earth and spilled colors like buckets of orange, pink, and violet as a reminder of the power of Holy light. The young woman once ravaged and scarred by guilt and shame found joy in the warmth of The Son. Lifted from the darkness you came for me . I was lost and you lifted me in your arms and by your own wounds, scars, and stripes you healed me.
It is always worth mending that which is broken. This is the heartbeat of God’s love. The fractures, wounds, and scars are remarkably purified like gold after the pain of repentance has done its work making every broken piece precious in His sight transforming those that are broken into the Holy wholeness of the Holy One whose image we bear.
In the end are not the scars part of the beauty? Oh yes! I think Jesus, when we meet him will show us his perfectly mended scars in his human-ness even though He is now glorified. He is always perfect. I think he will say “yes, these scars represent each of you and they are beautiful.”
Jill Autrey Dorman 