3/22/10

who is this vibrant being?

this all encompassing persona,

her hair whips around her face as her dark eyes flash a look of audacious hope.

towards your direction she aims her gaze.

you are captured and then consumed.

in the chaotic wind that threatens to overtake

in the hailstorm that has beaten you down

in the lightening that has taken your flame and passion

and in the thunder that has overpowered your voice;

in the aftermath of the storm that has left you

alone.

here she walks towards you with a limp in her gait as you are face down, grasping to the earth for constance.

here you feel your hand being taken by another filled with scars,

and proven wrong are your fears of solitude.

here she guides you towards something else, something living

away from the chaos,

away from the uprooted trees and the broken blades of grass.

here in the rain battered field, in the eye of the storm;

here she teaches you to reach away from the earth,

to reach upward,

as she does towards the one to whom she belongs.

she reveals the radiance of her beloved.

she leads you to his light and as she stands, illuminated among the shadows,

you can do nothing else but go find others to tell about the one you encountered.

she is the bride of christ.

tonight i saw the bride of christ. she took over my living room and left food in my kitchen and crumbs on my floor.

she sat on my couch and told jokes and sang songs and she was irresistible.

she saw a need in my life and she pooled her resources and she gave.

and she showed me that she loved me because her beloved did first.

i still sit, fazed and in awe of her presence now that she is gone.

because once you have met her and gone to shake her hand then been pulled into an unexpected embrace by her,

you have to sit for a while

her beauty is overpowering

her presence and stature irresistible

her flaws undeniable, yes,

but the one who loves her is felt in every touch, sight, smell and gesture

His love gives her confidence and boldness to love.

and it overpowers those who encounter it.

40 of my closest friends crammed themselves into my living room after weeks of planning and mouthfuls of secrets to keep it a surprise and they gave me a computer.

They made me funfetti cake and bought me a red hot chili pepper pinata and they gave me a mac book pro.

my friend josh told me that acts chapter 2 today  sometimes looks like providing people with a computer.

God told me this is only a glimpse of how i love you and want to provide for you- remember.

my legs told me, bad choice to wear heels and to sit down before you pass out.

because its easy to forget.

like, for instance have you ever been friends with a beautiful person,

someone, who before you met them you thought “that person is beautiful” and you were maybe intimidated by their beauty,

but then you become friends with them and you see them every day and they don’t get less beautiful you just get less worked up about it.

you take it for granted.

i do that with the bride of christ.

i forget to look at the friends and church and job and relationships i have and see them as stunning.

they become life, they become the norm, they become routine.

but, like with that same friend, the one you see everyday and take for granted,

you can look up and they will be sitting by a window and their eyes will catch the light

or you will be standing in a room full of strangers admiring them and you will think,  “oh yeah…”

you will be struck

you will be forcefully reminded of the unnatural beauty they possess

of the attraction and irresistible potential they have.

and you will remember.

and you will maybe even be a little bit proud that you know them, that you are loved by them.

tonight the bride of christ sat on my couch by the porchlight as it caught her hair and her dark eyes sparkled mischievously. she laughed from her belly at a stupid joke being told and

she took my breath away when she flashed a look in my direction.

she pointed me to her beloved who provides all things and in whom we both find our peace and satisfaction, even when we both sometimes forget.

and she reminded me that her beauty

and the beauty of the one who gave her love can be and must be found and introduced to people outside my walls, outside our walls on sunday, on wednesday nights, or on Easter

she gave me a wink on her way out the door and everything in me shouted “don’t forget”

i was reminded how beautiful she was and of how stories of her beauty must be told.

thank you to all who remembered to re-tell me of the beauty that is the bride of christ.

i love you and feel overwhelmingly loved by you.

Let us praise Him in whom we live and move and have our being, oh body,

oh beloved bride of Christ.

continue to be irresistible to the world around you.

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