Fourth Floor Oracle

Hazy light begs it way
Through the grey lazy sky
As overstuffed cumulus droop
And hang in the air so thick
The sky resembling those forts made by children
Ones with dining room chair fortification
And downy-fresh blanket roofs
Grey has lately asserted itself
Barometric contractions
that signal the soon coming labor of winter
as summer will soon scurry to sabbatical
eloping to its solstice with the eternal daylight
and taking up residency will be winters pageantry

Two Step

I attended the Dave Matthews Concert the other night in West Palm.

This yearly ritual was held in the underappreciated venue that is Sound Advice Amphitheatre. There's always something a little magical about making that drive out on Southern Boulevard - the eclectic surroundings of an airport, run-down houses and undeveloped property - an artery of a road that really is aptly named, much more closely related to old cracker West Palm than its upstart debutant sibling of guilded Palm Beach...turn back east and you can end up on that pristine and prestigious shore...keep heading west and you'll end up on the backward, haunting yet timeless banks of Lake Okeechobee and all its lore...but in between lies the amphitheatre and its there you'll be greeted by music carried on the wind, planes with their flickering lights roaring overhead, smoke billowing around you....

and thick crowds of people.

And it happens everytime I'm there for a big show that inevitably as the night thickens and the band carries on that I will look around, the music fading to the background for just a second, and I will think to myself, "Look at all of these people."

All different yet not without similiarities, all journeying through this life, all coming to the show for some intention of having a good time

All made in the image of God.

And it's times like that- under that endless sky and surrounded by those euphoric crowds - where I remember just how small I really am. That on the shores of humanity I am but a grain of sand.

And yet the amazing balance and tension of it all is that even in my insignificance and low stature in the height of history the Creator-Redeemer loves me. And He makes me significant and makes me have worth not of my own but because of his love for me.

That even though we are grains of sand on the shores of humanity, his waves of mercy and love wash over us.

"...my Love you came to me like wine comes to this mouth grown tired of water all the time. You quench my heart and you quench my mind..."
- "Two Step" DMB

Psalm 118

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
2 Let Israel say:
"His love endures forever."
3 Let the house of Aaron say:
"His love endures forever."
4 Let those who fear the LORD say:
"His love endures forever."
5 In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free.
6 The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
7 The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies.
8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.
10 All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
11 They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
12 They swarmed around me like bees, but they died out as quickly as burning thorns;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
13 I was pushed back and about to fall, but the LORD helped me.
14 The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.
15 Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous:
"The LORD's right hand has done mighty things!
16 The LORD's right hand is lifted high; the LORD's right hand has done mighty things!"
17 I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done.
18 The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.
22 The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone;
23 the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

two three and six

laying awake on my bed
another sleepless night
it's here that i am brave
it's here that i am cavalier
full of bright ideas and things i'd love to say
had this night come right before i saw you today

for when i am sleepless and alone
i am clever and smooth and downright eloquent
its when i see you face to face
under the sunlight, with life in your eyes
that i'm over-analytical and all together tongue-tied