The Sands

The Soul for comfort holds herself to be

Inviolate; but like the blowing sands

That sift in shuttered houses, Christ’s demands

Intrude and sting, deny her to be free.

 

She twists and turns but finds it vain to flee,

The living Word is in the very air,

She can’t escape a wound that’s everywhere,

She can but stand or yield — to ecstasy.

 

Her Lord is seeking entrance; she must choose.

A thickening callus can withstand the pain

Of this rough irritant, the sands that swirl

Against her thus defied. But if she lose

Her self, Christ enters in – the sharp-edged grain

Of sand embedded grows a shining pearl.

 

-- from The Sands, by Sheldon Vanauken

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

So much is happening all around me. Too much. I wish I had a magic watch that could stop time.

 

"... This ... is a time of taking in -- taking in friendship, conversation, gaiety, wisdom, knowledge, beauty, holiness -- and later... there'll be a time of giving out..."

I need TIME! I need more time to absorb and process all that I'm taking in.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It's happening again, just like before. It begins with the innocent text messages ... but are they, really? I don't want to go through this again...

Sometimes, to guard a friend's heart, you need to cause that person a little pain.