So much of our lives are spent in delight, the running around the side of the house to see the whole rainbow, watching ourselves in the mirror as we recollect and recite a good come-back, holding other bodies close as morality or comfort allows.
The beginning (the stitching of our lips, our unformed breasts, the fist-sized muscle in the chest) and the end (our unknown final words, the last caress, the last tick within us), we know that we are not all there for either event. So in the middle, to pretend to understand at all, we build. We relish. We wear silk against the skin, and we show our shape. We lust and enjoy, the thanksgiving meal not without chocolate, not without pecan, the berries, the spices or the bird.
We are merely human,
like all before us and any after. We do not understand mercy.
But have it on us. Mercy on our skin, our forgetfulness, how we point to the sky, notice the pink lay down on our houses, the blue shoot hard into night as the dark turns on us. We spin day in and out, and the invisible axis is You. Have mercy.
You are the stop watch.
Original Artist, have Mercy.
You are Promise, the Before and the After.
Now in the During, let us now give thanks.
By Amber Haines, The Run-A-Muck
Leave a Comment
Kristen@Moms Sharpening Moms says
Holy Smokes, sweet girl, you are one of those writers whose words I barely feel worthy of commenting about! This is stunning, beautiful, breathtaking. Thanking the Original Artist for you today…
Love,
Kristen (aka an every once in a while look-in-the-mirror-and-recite-a good-comeback girl) 🙂
stretched, spread, scattered – a little real | Kelly Langner Sauer – Journal says
[…] I don’t know how to ask for mercy, how to ask for help. I don’t deserve the love of my children; I don’t deserve it from God – and yet my being cries out for Him, for the rest I’ve found in Him before, for sufficient grace and short memory and a way to cry – because crying is a release sometimes. It is not always a sad thing. […]
deb says
oh. Amber.
This.
And I ‘m going to print this out. I’m going to make my own little book of Amber .
Elizabeth (@claritychaos) says
I want Amber to make her own little book of Amber and then print it out and bind it for all of us to keep!
Holley Gerth says
Amber, woman of grace, weaver of words, giver of thanks and beauty–I love how you help us see ourselves, this world, and the One who made it in new ways. You, my friend, are a poem alive.
allison morrison says
Yes Lord….let us just be still and enjoy the During…
Marilyn says
Lovely. I read it twice through as if indulging in a second dessert and it’s not even a holiday. I savor several phrases, amazed at how they spoke to me this morning and right after a prayer bringing forth yet again my need for an answer and help in making a choice and admitting how nothing seems to be speaking to it. But then your words did. God is good. His timing perfect.
Beth West says
I do not know why your words brought tears to my eyes, but that was beautifully said.
Lisa-Jo @thegypsymama says
On days when my insides feel all tired, your words are like a warm snuggie 🙂 thanks Amber!
Wanda says
Humbling words. Sweet reflection of L I F E !!
Ann Voskamp@Holy Experience says
My head is bowed and my heart stilled…
just. the. beat. of.
yes.
tonia says
first the post….lovely…then the comments. all these word-women gathered in one place, an embarrassment of riches, a gift for right now.
thank you Amber for poetry and praise. you bless.
Craig says
“The running around the side of the house to see the whole rainbow”
You had me with the first sentence again – every time. How do you do that?
You are so right. We can only look at perfection, strive for it, but we are a part of creation – and like all of it – fragile and fractured – but fixable.
And as I read this – the blue has shot hard into night – and dark has turned. But because you wrote this – and I got to read it I’m not going to pretend I have an inkling of the greatness of God for the rest of the night. And I usually like to pretend I get him. I am going to spend the rest of this night revolving around this “invisible axis” that He is. I can feel his gravity already.
And YOU did that.
And I will be praying this many times before I lay down tonight :
You are the stop watch.
Original Artist, have Mercy.
You are Promise, the Before and the After.
Now in the During, I give you thanks.
I just prayed it now and it was sweet – and I know it’s going to get better each time.
I so heart your words Amber.
Living the Balanced Life says
Somehow Lord, let us move on from the past, not worry about tomorrow, just live and accept and rest, right now in the during…
Awesome!
Bernice
http://livingthebalancedlife.com/2010/eight-areas-that-need-balance/
Elizabeth (@claritychaos) says
I forget about (or ignore) the axis all the time. Every day. So often. I just spin and spin and spin and spin and spin…girl, you speak to me.
jeni says
I don’t think I read the same post as the above commentors lol. Guess it was over my head!