I went to the Bible today with the intent of finding perspective. I,who often see so many situations through the framework of principles, was asking God what I should do. How am I to understand this turn of events? Upon what reasons do I make my decision? How foolish I had been! I thought I needed perspective. But as always, His Word had a life of its own, and He spoke to me as He willed, not as I had demanded: What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips? For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you. If you see a thief, you are pleased with him, and you keep company with adulterers. You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son. These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you. It cut me to the bone. The Judge of heaven and earth summoned all and was silent no more. He laid His scepter on the righteous and ruled: "Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver you." Yet to me, He judged: "What right do you have?" I considered the evil embedded in my heart, the utter absence of integrity in my life, the slander pouring from my lips--against brother and foe alike--and I was ashamed. God has kept silent not only in His long-suffering, but because I had turned a deaf ear and refused to be disciplined. As I read and reread those words, the heavy chains clanked around my feet and iron cuffs chaffed my skin. But even as death row loomed so despairingly before my eyes, God's final words rang loudest above all other noise. Mark this, then, you who forget God... The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!" For it is not the flesh of bulls or the blood of goats that satisfied the Lord, but a grateful heart that knows just how undeserving it is of receiving the single most wonderful gift from God. Indeed from Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shined forth. Against His light, all other worries and doubts burned away. I faced my judgement, and in the midst of my impossible escape, Jesus laid the principle to rule my current dilemma: "Judgement leads to repentence, and repentence leads to humility. Humility leads to salvation, and salvation leads to thanksgiving. Thanksgiving leads to praise, and praise leads to forgiveness." That's the perspective I needed. * * * strange how you know inside me
I measure the time and I stand amazed
strange how I know inside you
my hand is outstretched toward the damp of the haze
and of course I forgive
I've seen how you live
like a phoenix you rise from the ashes
you pick up the pieces
and the ghosts in the attic
they never quite leave
and of course I forgive
you've seen how I live
I've got darkness and fears to appease
my voices and analogies
ambitions like ribbons
worn bright on my sleeve
strange how we know each other
strange how I fit into you
there's a distance erased with the greatest of ease
strange how you fit into me
a gentle warmth filling the deepest of needs
and with each passing day
the stories we say
draw us tighter into our addiction
confirm our conviction
that some kind of miracle
passed on our heads
and how I am sure
like never before
of my reasons for defying reason
embracing the seasons
we dance through the colors
both followed and led
strange how we fit each other
strange how certain the journey
time unfolds the petals for our eyes to see
strange how this journey's hurting
in ways we accept as part of fate's decree
so we just hold on fast
acknowledge the past
as lessons exquisitely crafted
painstakingly drafted
to carve us as instruments
that play the music of life
for we don't realize
our faith in the prize
unless it's been somehow elusive
how swiftly we choose it
the sacred simplicity
of you at my side
-Vienna Teng, Eric's Song | 
