Pathways

After I John 1:5-2:2

The two paths present a choice,

not a choice of high road

and low road, not the kind

of journey to the same place,

not a road taken or not taken,

but a choice more stark,

more obvious: a path of light

or a path of darkness.

We can’t choice darkness

believing our own light

is sufficient, for our own light

will be overcome (easily);

the darkness is too deep,

too thick, too overwhelming

to be overcome by our own light.

A different light is required, needed,

demanded to see clearly,

to understand deeply, to know

with certainty. The choice is

a double one: to choose the path

of light and to choose the light

ordained. The path is a single one:

not many paths, or even two,

but only one,

one to choose

and one to reject.

Photograph by Andrew Neel via Unsplash. Used with permission.

The farmer

After I John 1:5-2:2

The farmer broke the landscape,

digging up rocks, cutting trees,

removing stumps, contouring hills

until the land, the soil

was ready, prepared, waiting.

The farmer himself waited,

knowing the time would come

for the planting of the seed.

The farmer had completed

his task, assigned: to prepare

a way for the seed.

Photograph by Allef Vinicius via Unsplash. Used with permission.

A swirl

After I John 1:5-2:2

We observe a swirl

of ideas, or metaphors,

mixed together

until inseparable:

word, life, light.

The Word was, is, will be;

in that word was, is, will be

life; in that life was, is, will be

light, a light that splits

the darkness, shatters it

into pieces of itself, pieces

without power, a memory

haunted by what it was, is, will be:

formless and void.

Photograph by Meg Neilson via Unsplash. Used with permission.