THE FIFTH WORD

The Word of Distress
I thirst (John 19:28)

(Photo by Pastor Keith)

Faith seems 

so easy for some, 

you know the ones, 

joyous, at peace, aglow.

One wonders 

if they have as much peace in their soul 

as on their brows, smooth, relaxed,

or in their easy laugh.

Would they tell me their secret?

Share that chapter of their lives when it all came together

for them.

I thirst, 

find a sip here and there, 

the desert air drying my bones that long to live

and live and live,

uneasy, often fearful that the waters

may evaporate, muddied shallow pools,

cracking earth, gone. 

I thirst,

and Christ breaks through

and my heart and my soul

beat with all the jazz of heaven 

and in the ecstasy of the moment

thunderstorms rain down,

I run around mouth agape,

foolish, mad, a gleeful child all at once. 

And the pools fill, the ponds, the lakes.

Will it rain tomorrow, if it rained today?

One question to another: 

To journey on or sit the quiet waters by?

To risk and trust,

to live without concern for clouds.