Streams of Comfort

Jude chapter 1 is a difficult passage to read. It warns of ungodliness and self-indulgence. Last year, I was struggling with relationships. In church, friendships can be difficult to maintain. Especially for someone like me who spends most of the week not in church or doing church things. Finding a balance was tough. The church is the body of Christ. It’s us. I forget that sometimes. I made decisions that drove me away from the body of Christ and straight to pain. The pain that comes from living a contradictory life and the internal struggle that follows. Thankfully the church is home and no matter how far we go, we were made to go home.

There’s a part of me that’s been swallowed whole
Desperate to resurface on the shore of grace.
That aches a bit when the bite of life stings.
I don’t know when I took a wrong turn
Shackled myself to my jailer.
Locked the door on my happiness.
Somewhere between mercy and love You stood
Poised to catch me though I didn’t reach
I could search forever and not understand why.
Even now in the state I can’t admit
My eternal soul refuses to succumb to the pain
That’s more temporary than this life.
O, why do I choose the things that hurt me
Over again in a loop.
No more comfort in what I already know.
Freedom is on your tongue, lips, hands
Ones that hold me and soothe me.
So that I am filled with certainty.
I will rise again and be filled again
Loose prayers on my tongue
Reaching out to the light that never left.
Alice R, 10/01/23