Reunion

How is it that having come so far
I feel myself being dragged backwards
Time with old friends promises

Treasured memories and good times
Somehow creates too a hollow feeling
Nagging emptiness and discontent

I am not the person I was then
And neither are they
And I would not want any of us to be

And yet, I miss who I was
Just striking out into adulthood
Carefully choosing companions

Learning, stretching adventurous wings
Constantly reaching out of my comfort zone
Finding new skills and hitting my stride

Some of what was then was so good
Dinner parties and night-to-morning conversations
Passionately engaging brilliant minds

Balanced, though, by insecurities
Monsters that prowled in the night
Fears and inadequacies ever more important

Those best of times and worst of times
That could not last
I have come so far from then

Healed, though scarred, by twists of time
And mismatched affections
Hesitant to test the strength of progress

Afraid to be pulled backward
Of the blindness that comes from wishing
And looking back over my shoulder

For how things could have played out differently
Rather than embracing all the goodness
That came to pass anyway

And so I don't know what to do
But walk forward and hope
That Love and Goodness and Light

Will overwhelm echoes of depression and fear
So the anguish of rejection and conflict
Will be silenced once and for all

And so I can keep moving forward
Keep growing and learning and moving
Into all the better things I've found in You

Gospel

We struggle to recapture
An idea long imprisoned
Once inspired brilliance
Trapped in trite cliches

For God so loved the world
You and me, the neighbor next door
Good news proclaimed
Once scribbled on construction paper
And passed out to the neighbors

That He gave His only begotten Son
The Answer, Salvation
The Way, the Truth, the Life
Once encountered in blinding brilliance
Dimmed by layers of over-familiarity

That Whosoever believes in Him
Obeys His commands
Draws every breath because of Him
Once changing everything
And often fading, receding into doubt

We struggle to recapture
An idea long imprisoned
Once inspired brilliance
Trapped in trite cliches

We crave the reality
Of the all-encompassing truth
We were hopelessly lost
Mired in misery
Forever in despair

Until Love came after us
Lifted us above our circumstances
Salvaged our damaged lives
Resuscitated our dying souls
Though it cost everything

Love gave up perfection
Became one of us
Died a terrible death
To give us back the gift
Of His presence
With us and in us
Forever: God so Loved the World

Anticipation

We will gather
With music interspersed
With silent reflection
Hearts hungry for words
That lift and redeem

We will read
Letters and poems
Written long ago
By other hearts overflowing
With Your Love and life

We will wait
Our hands outstretched
Our souls reaching upward
For Your heart to turn toward us
For rain and fire to fall

We will listen
Expecting Your voice to
Free captives and heal wounds
To remind us
You know our names

We will declare
Your kingdom has come
And Your kingdom is coming
Your victory is already complete
Even as the battle is raging

We will know
Who You are and thus who we are
We will soak in Your presence
Your fire will purify us
And we will be forever changed