It's early Spring, and that's a good time for me.
This is a Facebook post, also a blog post, and a message to the leadership of Genesis Community Church.
Tonight's message from Craig Tackett was one of encouragement . . . involving a challenge to the church body as a whole to make encouraging people a priority, to see if we could actually change the emotional state of the Valley as a whole. Now, this may sound like high hopes, but i think Craig believes it's possible . . . and, because i respect him, i share his belief. It may be a seasonal thing with me . . . Spring always feels like being reborn. I've been very busy lately, seasonal work (also another reason why Spring has been particularly good for me this year), and my poetry postings have gotten pretty sparse. This isn't to say i haven't been writing . . . but i seem to have come to a "cycle change" where more of my hopeful poetry begins. Tonight, after church, i was given a poem . . . that's what it feels like, anyway. It is a message of hope, of encouragement. I want to share it with everyone, and hope that you'll receive it as a "gift."
Learning to Swim Upstream
***
and to you who might sell God short,
let me deliver this report
from the front lines
of a conflict that's gone on longer
than any fight, battle, or war
fought for oppression, for gold, or oil.
now, times are lean,
and those most desperate
are in need of aid,
and less are inclined to give, but
let me tell you this:
God is teaching
His people to swim upstream.
you were born for this,
to return to the Source
of your Creation!
every force, every obstacle,
every impediment
should only encourage you
to greater efforts, to inspire you
to creative survival.
think of the strength you'll gain!
if you bear up
during the hard times,
you'll truly appreciate the good.
this planet
is your neighborhood,
only a temporary residence
before you go home,
but quite a bit wider,
and wilder, than expected.
it's okay, God gets that,
He said it's best to start out small.
you know, in your
corner of the whole.
you'll learn to appreciate
the unobtrusive miracles
unfolding in obscurity,
the blossoming that only
the fewest have
the pleasure or the opportunity
to view. you will be shown where--and how--
to tear back the wreckage
and expose the Truth--and
because of that, the Beauty--
inherent in every
disastrous situation.
know your weakness, understand your flaws;
mark them with signposts
as rugged terrain
where you'll need all His strength
to lean on.
learn to swim
upstream, stroke by stroke.
be expectant
of the strength you need,
the courage for the deed;
they're guaranteed.
i've survived some pretty intense
battles; taking
the higher ground is tough.
but i gotta tell you,
the view from up here
ain't always pretty, but
you can see your target
very clear.
© Todd Pack 03.20.11
