The race is downhill

After Philippians 3:12-4:1

The race is downhill

even when it’s uphill;

the outcome is decided,

the prize already awarded.

The course feels difficult,

is difficult, a vale of tears

and heartbreak, but the ease

lies behind the difficult

because we know the race is done,

the race is won, the laurel leaves

placed, the cheers ongoing.

The race is won but not finished.

Photograph by Toa Heftiba via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Already won

After Philippians 3:12-4:1

The prize is almost a contradiction:

it’s there, ours to grasp when 

we finish the race, and

it’s now, ours to keep, already won,

no matter what happens between

here and the finish line.

What kind of prize is that?

The stadium crowd is puzzled,

for no one wins a prize that

is already won, but perhaps

this is different, a different prize,

one not seen before,

one not offered before,

one not given before,

one not designed by human hands.

Photograph by Ethan Hoover via Unsplash. Used with permission.

The call is upward

After Philippians 3:12-4:1

A sound, or a voice, perhaps,

a movement in the heat

and soul and mind, gives

the first glimpse of the prize,

the first time we know

there’s a prize, its possession

a goal and a destination,

even if we do not fully

understand the goal, the destination,

and the journey required to reach

it, the precise steps of the journey

remaining unknown, steps guided

and steps taken in faith. All

we know is that the call is

upward.

Photograph by Martin Zimlickis via Unsplash. Used with permission.