River of Time

I will be dissolved in the river of Time
that now envelops my body and mind –
the Time, containing the moments sublime
of love and of beauty, of truth and of trust,
along with an awful grime and slime -
dishonesty, arrogance, anger and lust.

My joys were consumed by termites and locusts,
and various vermin that swarmed all around,
whenever my soul was helplessly focused
not on the celestial but on the ground.

I am a creation of God in my essence
but, pulled in the sinful directions somehow,
I’m doggedly trying to fathom the lessons
that Time so lavishly always provides.

While I’m absorbing its particles now
like air – polluted or pure – through my skin,
I’m trying to keep all that’s bad outside:
through being repentant I am purified -
the lungs of my Spirit are dealing with sin.

I have to be patient, because the eternal,
imperishable, indestructible treasure
is stored as a seed in a timeless kernel.
It will be my prize - in accord with the measure
not of any deeds but my faith in Christ.

Transformed by the Spirit and guided by hope,
I struggle with nature, empowered to cope.
I’m two in one person: my body is spliced
with what it will be, an amazing new creature,
that’s fighting today with the body of clay
the body of clay that insists on its way, -
how can I attain the heights of my Teacher?

I’m filling my lungs with the heavens, restraining
my natural instincts in order to follow
the voice within me that’s guiding and training
to breathe in the space where Time is hollow.

Detecting the stiffness of all my perceptions,
of love and of hatred, of life and of death,
the Spirit is challenging neural connections
and puts in my thinking the flight of His breath.

23 September 2011