From Where I Stand

When I woke up this morning and looked outside, I witnessed pine trees stooping from the heavy burden of ice. I saw broken branches lying on the ground and I thought, “This isn’t how it’s supposed to be. We’re not supposed to be weighed down by our burdens…yet so many of us are…and so many of us are on the verge of breaking, if not already broken…”

I was looking through some poems yesterday so that I could send a few to a friend. In the process of searching my files, I found words that I didn’t remember writing, as well as words that I remembered so vividly that they brought tears to my eyes. I read words of love. I read words of sorrow. I read words of brokenness. I read words of healing. I read words of wilderness. I read words of freedom…

Quite literally, the world is white today. The trees, bushes, windows, and ground are frozen over. Bullet has chosen to tip-toe each time he has gone out. He hasn’t wanted the ice to break lest he sink into the snow…

The world is white. The world is frozen. The trees are burdened. And yet…“From where I stand, the world exists in color.” From where I stand, there is promise that the ice will melt in the heat of Love’s warmth and freedom to thrive will come again.

From Where I Stand
12/16/06

From where I stand,
the world exists in color.

Black is the presence of everything
while white is the absence of all,
yet in between are the
reds and yellows and oranges and purples
and greens and blues and browns
that shade surroundings,
adding light and vitality to life.

From where I stand,
a monochromatic world is miserable existence.

Refusing to acknowledge differences is detrimental
and trying to assimilate hues into uniformity is tragic,
because in between are the
combinations and blends and complements and contrasts
and statements and swirls and lines
that weave together experience,
adding richness and beauty to life.

From where I stand,
individuals exist in this world only within the context of color.

Skin, race, nationality, sexuality, and monetary value matter little,
while the unique creation of a Creator masterful enough to
dream of living colors
working together
to paint a picture of Love
is the whole of existence,
for in that embrace of creation is the
birth of the Hope of Peace and
the purpose of life.

**“From Where I Stand” is one of the poems that I don’t remember writing. I’m grateful that I found it yesterday.**