The light within

After Philippians 2:12-18

The light within is

not a natural thing, or

a physical phenomenon,

but one deliberately

inserted and planted,

lit from without to light

from within, and so it

needs nurturing and care,

feeding and stimulation.

It is a light that must be

worked out in fear, trembling,

its purpose not warmth

for the lightbearer but

illumination in the darkness

for finding the way home.

The light is implanted

so that others may see.

Photograph by Yeski Kangrang via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Bent and twisted (men)

After Philippians 2:12-18

It must be a genetic

plague: a time when

all walk bent and

twisted, the world

skewed sideways

and tilted, everything

off center as darkness

gathers and deepens.

Amid the cries for more

and better and spend

that money and expand

that control and all

the while the bending 

and twisting grows worse,

the darkness deeper,

the murmurs and cries

seeking the light.

Photograph by Anthony Dean via Unsplash. Used with permission.