Our Source and Destination
You, Father, are the Alpha and Omega,
the First and the Last,
the Beginning and End of all things.
You are our Source and Destiny.
And yet…
You allow this messy middle.
Within these borders, You allow Your creatures to explore,
to try and to fail,
to surrender and rebel and sing and create,
to destroy and repent and rest and recover,
to give and take and dream and love and hurt,
to age, and even to die.
And some of us believe we are the point of the story.
And some of us believe there is no point to the story.
And some of us believe,
with fresh and bright and joyous springtime belief,
that the story is Yours.
That You are the point of this glorious, blooming story.
And some of us believe,
that we are but summer sheep,
lying beside still waters, in green pastures,
in the Good Shepherd’s story.
And some of us believe,
living through invigorated, hurried days of harvest,
reaping, and gathering in, and counting up,
under crisp autumn skies,
that we are not sheep, but workers.
Days growing short, and work growing long,
in the Coming King’s story.
And some of us,
in the cold, lonely, dark, biting days of winter,
dare to believe
that death is not the end of the story.
And then, there’s this…
You,
the Beginning,
are the End of the story,
our Source and Destination,
whatever, we in the messy middle, may believe.
For we, Your creatures,
cannot
believe You
out of being
who
You
are
I believe a poem is whatever you make it to be!
I love your poem! And the photo is perfect!
Thank you for being one constant that makes me stop, relax and read even if just for a moment before I need to hurry off to do “one more thing”
Thank you, Darrian! I’m so glad I could give you a little relaxing break : )
Pretty, pretty! Love the “some of us” descriptions!
Thank you, Yvette, that means a lot coming from a poetic friend : )
A note I wrote my soon to be wife on May 14, 1996: “My chest is so full of love for you, I can barely breathe… If I had only known how you felt about me, I would have been on bended knee decades ago…It seemed like all these years, my love was a homing pigeon, with no real home. Your heart has become my home. I am truly in love with you, Patricia!”..I do ache to hold you in my arms and never let you go.
Wow, thanks for sharing this with us, Steve! What a nice thing to read at the end of a short trip to celebrate my 20th anniversary with Tom.
Jody, this story in poetic form offers the best images…. these lines in particular,
“And some of us,
in the cold, lonely, dark, biting days of winter,
dare to believe
that death is not the end of the story.”
I’m so delighted that my nudge to make friends with poetry inspired you this way.
You’ve blessed me today!
How wonderful to hear from you, Jody. Thank you for the poetic encouragement. The blessing is mutual : )
This is so good, Jody! I’ve been thinking a lot about God being the beginning and the end. Some of us wish we could express our thoughts and feelings so freely. ☺️ I’ll give it a try!
Oh, I’m glad I inspired you, Jeanette!
I have always loved the way you put words together. This should be the first entry in your next poetry book. I’m hanging on to your other one. It will be even more valuable when you are famous. I really do love this poem. It’s the kind you read over & over & discover something new each time. Thank you for bravely sharing it. I love you Jody, Mom Dad was impressed too!
Thank you, Mom (and Dad). I appreciate the encouragement. I usually work with a poem a long time before I share it, but these thoughts about God being both our source and destination came out in my journal and seemed to have some layers of meaning I thought others might appreciate. I love you two, too!
Jody,
Glad you enjoyed my little love note to my sweetheart. It is that time of year. Words bring life or death. I know that for the two of us and many of those in your readership have chosen life. Being out of my mind in love with her works much better than any kind of marriage counselling!
Your poem is spectacular!
Thank you, Steve!
Dear Nancy & Dick,
What a joy your daughter has been to me lately, although we haven’t met yet. I hope all is well with you both and you’re enjoying the sunny south. We look forward to many good times with you when you return to the “hill”.
Blessings,
Steve & Patti
Nice Jody! Last stanza ties it together and is very thoughtful. Gives good ground in these hyper political times. Matches the dramatic picture well too.
Happy Valentines!
Thank you, Richie!
When I first saw the image you used for your poem I thought of Genesis 1:8 And God called the firmament Heaven. Your poem directed my thoughts to Genesis, the beginning. Thank you for sharing.
I love that, Kathy! Thank you : )