Springtime?

I’m sitting at the library, looking out at the Charles, with its million sparkling diamonds skipping over the surface. In front of me, the tiny leaves are convinced that the Boston winter has finally come to an end. They are still tentative, yellow in hue, but I know that soon, they will grow in confidence and turn green, bringing color back to the city.

Paper Scraps #2

Writer's Rights

As a writer

I reserve the right

To write and then erase

To create and take back

These thoughts that

Once let loose, captured

On paper may remain

I only wrote this because the words were tumbling around in my brain and I just couldn't resist using the homonyms in the same sentence. Read into the meaning of the poem as you will. 

Paper Scraps #1

Spring Snow Showers

Thick heavy flakes fall

Leaden clouds envelop sky

Green leaves are hidden

It snowed today. It's supposed to snow again tomorrow. 

I, for one, am not complaining. :) We didn't really get winter this year.

Overheard on the Subway #1

I thought it might be good to share the things that I overhear thanks to public transportation. Sometimes it's hilarious, sometimes it's heart warming, and sometimes it's extremely annoying. I found out about Justice Scalia's passing thanks to the casual conversation of a group of people who were reading through their news feed and noted that a Supreme Court Justice had passed away. Another person approached them and asked who it was. Upon finding out that it was Scalia, he said something along the lines of oh that's good, hastily adding that he wasn't celebrating the fact that someone had died, of course. I came home and checked on a news website that will remain unnamed and the focus was already on who should nominate a replacement with the presidential elections fast approaching.

I'm writing this sequence of events down because I had quite a strong reaction to it - perhaps more so because of the fact that we just recently lost Charles (also unexpectedly) and it was so hard to deal with and process. Only now, weeks later, are those of us who were on the fringes of his friend group able to somewhat acknowledge without major difficulty that he is gone. Do we live in such a messed up world that political games trump the fact that we are human? Where is the true empathy and the outpouring of support for his family and friends? I know that these are perhaps unreasonable expectations of the political arena and even of my generation of millennials for whom the stereotype of self-absorption rings unfortunately true. And yet. I want to ask myself - does this have to be? I may not be able to change the lives of strangers on the street, but for me, my friends, my community - can we make a difference at least in the lives of those around us? Can we take a moment to suspend our participation in this ridiculous rat race, and actually care about people?

Carrying On - a Request for Prayer

Sometimes, life is crazy. It's sad, it's confusing, and it's just hard to take in. This week, we lost Charles, a friend, coworker, and brother in Christ in a tragic, horribly improbable car accident. No one saw it coming, and perhaps that's why we're all reeling from the shock. Some things are just, well, you don't think it happens in real life. It just feels like a terrible dream that is almost over. That he'll walk into the room as if nothing ever happened. My brain, no the facts, tell me that it will never happen in this world. This world is broken and we all acknowledge that, but most of the time, it just doesn't hit you straight up in your face. Yesterday felt like an eternity - and I can't even claim to have been super close friends with him. My heart goes out to all those who were. I have no words and I can't begin to imagine just how hard it must be for them.

I was telling another coworker today about the hope that we have for the future, that eventually we will be reunited with the ones we love and lose - because of the work that Christ has done on our behalf. Yet, I was also real about the fact that the hope doesn't mean that we feel no loss and we feel no pain. Those are present, and as the shock wears off, we will likely begin to feel those emotions far more keenly. It's a broken world that we live in, and it's a broken community that is coming together to join in supporting each other, crying out to a perfect Savior who gives them hope and comfort. Please pray for healing and comfort for the family, friends, and broader community who are grieving this week.

As we attempt to pick up and carry on, pray that we will also be sensitive to opportunities to share our faith with others. It weighs heavily on my heart that there are so many people out there (even sitting at desks right next to me) who have no certainty about life after death and for whom today could be their last day. Pray that in our daily lives, we would remember that there is more to this life than the tasks at work. Pray that we would prioritize investing in the lives of those around us, taking each opportunity as if it is the last. Please pray that we would live each day as if it were indeed our last.