(The first half was written 12-03-02 and the second half was finally written on 01-28-04. I revised it again sometime later. I guess you could say this short story grew with me in meaning and content as I grew in understanding of my King.)
(no working title)
i saw myself sitting on the shore of a vast sea, clothed in tattered garments. i looked up and saw that the heavens there were clouded and dark; my ears heard the crashing of violent waves as the salty wind rolled in and picked up my fiery locks. my thoughts were on those dark skies and on the cold earthenware beneath me. a tear ripped from my eye and (as if to mock me) was lost in the gail - i pondered the depths of the angry sea. would the waters prove to calm me once i was at the bottom? . . . maybe i . . .
my thoughts were suddenly pierced by booming sounds of thunder; it resonated to the quick of my frail frame. before i could regain my sense of being, rays of illuminating light broke through the dismal clouds and shattered the oppressing darkness. it was so grand i had to shield my eyes. under the shade of my palm, my attention was drawn from the fleeing clouds and set on the horizon before me for there appeared a man walking on the waters of the raging sea!
instantly his presence stopped my heart. i could not breath - he was walking towards me! the anger of the sea calmed beneath each of his steps. my heart began to beat again but still, i could not breath for his eyes had caught mine, captivating my very soul - as if i was under a spell. in that moment, i knew that he knew my heart more than i could ever. who was this man? this man that with one look shattered my walls, pierced my soul and examined the depths of my heart?
suddenly, i felt shame - all of the harbored guilt from the dirty little secrets of my past was exposed before him. it was then that i noticed my tattered garments had blown away in the gail and i was standing there on the shore naked and cold. i could not let him see me like this! i turned, head down, from his gaze and wrapped my arms around my shivering body. i whispered into the wind, "please - don't see me like this"
he stopped, and with him the heavens, the winds and the seas. it was as if all that i saw before me was a painting on a grand canvas. time froze and i was stunned. but in all time's might, it couldn't keep him. he began to walk towards me still - redefining time itself. i began to pull back from the shore. i lost my footing and toppled backwards. with what little strength i had left, i desperately clenched to the sandy earth as he began to reach my shore. i closed my eyes tight, hoping that the earth would hide my nakedness and that he would see only sand. but the earth only aided my nakedness. his gaze never left nor did he cease to draw nearer.
warmth began to tingle down my back. what was that? was it him? it was! warmth was emanating off of him like fire! nervously i looked around. i didn't know what to do; i didn't know where i could hide myself from this powerful beautiful man. pulling my knees to my chest, i curled up with the sand and wept.
in that moment of weakness, a calming voice spoke into my heart: "Beloved! See Me and weep no more." i looked up and there he was, standing right before me. his piercing eyes caught mine once more and i noticed something that i could not see before from such a great distance: his eyes held the greatest love that i had ever witnessed. he bent down on his knees before me and wiped a tear from my eye.
under the fire of his love, my shame melted away. his warmth reached my pale cheeks last, bringing shades of pink back to them. he stretched out his hands to me. i stared and was saddened for deep-set in his palms were scars that bore the memories of deep pain. i peered down at his feet; more scars. he gently grabbed my wrist and and led my fingers to his side, and then to his back; more scars. my heart burned; what was this great pain that he endured and why? he then put my hands over his heart and whispered into my ear, "For you Beloved. Now get up for I have come to set you free from this earth." enlightenment whisked through my fiery locks: he knew my pain and he had come to save me from my journey to the bottom of the ocean's floor.
There, i let go of the earth and as the grains of time fell from my palms, i took His beautiful scarred hands and we rose. And there, He clothed my naked body with a white dress of righteousness. He then pulled from His head a strand of beautiful dark hair and upon the touch of His hand, that strand turned into a silk ribbon. He wrapped that precious ribbon around my waist. As He tied it in a pretty bow, my heart filled with joy. With our gazes still keeping, He led me by hand across the seashore and onto the sea. i could feel the water under my feet and i smiled - i had crossed the threshold.
With time frozen still and forever at hand, He swept me up carried me across the seas of eternity.
my thoughts were suddenly pierced by booming sounds of thunder; it resonated to the quick of my frail frame. before i could regain my sense of being, rays of illuminating light broke through the dismal clouds and shattered the oppressing darkness. it was so grand i had to shield my eyes. under the shade of my palm, my attention was drawn from the fleeing clouds and set on the horizon before me for there appeared a man walking on the waters of the raging sea!
instantly his presence stopped my heart. i could not breath - he was walking towards me! the anger of the sea calmed beneath each of his steps. my heart began to beat again but still, i could not breath for his eyes had caught mine, captivating my very soul - as if i was under a spell. in that moment, i knew that he knew my heart more than i could ever. who was this man? this man that with one look shattered my walls, pierced my soul and examined the depths of my heart?
suddenly, i felt shame - all of the harbored guilt from the dirty little secrets of my past was exposed before him. it was then that i noticed my tattered garments had blown away in the gail and i was standing there on the shore naked and cold. i could not let him see me like this! i turned, head down, from his gaze and wrapped my arms around my shivering body. i whispered into the wind, "please - don't see me like this"
he stopped, and with him the heavens, the winds and the seas. it was as if all that i saw before me was a painting on a grand canvas. time froze and i was stunned. but in all time's might, it couldn't keep him. he began to walk towards me still - redefining time itself. i began to pull back from the shore. i lost my footing and toppled backwards. with what little strength i had left, i desperately clenched to the sandy earth as he began to reach my shore. i closed my eyes tight, hoping that the earth would hide my nakedness and that he would see only sand. but the earth only aided my nakedness. his gaze never left nor did he cease to draw nearer.
warmth began to tingle down my back. what was that? was it him? it was! warmth was emanating off of him like fire! nervously i looked around. i didn't know what to do; i didn't know where i could hide myself from this powerful beautiful man. pulling my knees to my chest, i curled up with the sand and wept.
in that moment of weakness, a calming voice spoke into my heart: "Beloved! See Me and weep no more." i looked up and there he was, standing right before me. his piercing eyes caught mine once more and i noticed something that i could not see before from such a great distance: his eyes held the greatest love that i had ever witnessed. he bent down on his knees before me and wiped a tear from my eye.
under the fire of his love, my shame melted away. his warmth reached my pale cheeks last, bringing shades of pink back to them. he stretched out his hands to me. i stared and was saddened for deep-set in his palms were scars that bore the memories of deep pain. i peered down at his feet; more scars. he gently grabbed my wrist and and led my fingers to his side, and then to his back; more scars. my heart burned; what was this great pain that he endured and why? he then put my hands over his heart and whispered into my ear, "For you Beloved. Now get up for I have come to set you free from this earth." enlightenment whisked through my fiery locks: he knew my pain and he had come to save me from my journey to the bottom of the ocean's floor.
There, i let go of the earth and as the grains of time fell from my palms, i took His beautiful scarred hands and we rose. And there, He clothed my naked body with a white dress of righteousness. He then pulled from His head a strand of beautiful dark hair and upon the touch of His hand, that strand turned into a silk ribbon. He wrapped that precious ribbon around my waist. As He tied it in a pretty bow, my heart filled with joy. With our gazes still keeping, He led me by hand across the seashore and onto the sea. i could feel the water under my feet and i smiled - i had crossed the threshold.
With time frozen still and forever at hand, He swept me up carried me across the seas of eternity.
