#thepoeticwit

[thepoeticwit]

Of Life, Death, and Peace.

What does it mean to live a "life in abundance"?

Amid the chaos and motions, amid uncertainty. Under reminders and threats of death and disease which plagues lands and lungs.

Is there still a space for peace? Peace that surpasses even our own understanding?

Perhaps, while one must acknowledge fears, wiser still it is to trust - there is One who hold it all together.

Have mercy on us, I pray.

[thepoeticwit]

He Carries Me

Rest assured, we wage a constant war that spans a lifetime. A war already won, and still not yet. Warring against the tides of life, against falsehood and darkness, against the wicked desires of our flesh, against subtle temptation, against evil lurking in the corners, and evil that sits in high places.

It will be tiring, what more exhausting, even to the point one would back down, be disheartened, disillusioned, or so far as to stray off course or shrink back. One would even question their own worth, identity, and beliefs based on how far they have fought the good fight, if the fight was any good at all.

As if it depended on our strength to begin with.

Though we are commanded to persevere to the very end, we are not left to our own devices.

The Lord fights with us, and even more than that, He goes before us. He fights for us.

And He wins.

That's why He says, “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

It’s funny, the way He tells us to take up the yoke, to carry that burden. But it is light - because He is strong. “Abide in Me,” He says, for there can be no fruit without the relationship, without clinging again to the Saviour who paid it all to redeem you and I.

Rest assured, the life we live on this side of eternity will continue to exhaust us. Still the promise remains - “those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Lord, grant us Your wings, we pray. Amen.

(Matthew 11:28-30; John 15:4; Isaiah 40:31)

[thepoeticwit]

Approaching Holy Week: Faithful God for the Unfaithful

It wasn't just Judas who betrayed Jesus. Peter denied Him three times when he said he wouldn't. The rest of the disciples all fled when He was arrested. Now what about those of us who claim to follow Jesus, even so much as wanting to follow Him into prison, die with Him, and won't deny Him or forsake Him? Like the disciples, we betray, we deny, we flee - when things are too comfortable or when the fight gets too tough. Believe me, I am one such disciple. Yet, even when we become faithless or unfaithful, He is still faithful and just - He still faithfully forgives us of our sins and reconciles us to Himself by His passion, death, and resurrection. He still asks us today, as He did Peter by the shore, "Do you love Me?" (Mark 14:27-72; John 21:15-19)

[thepoeticwit]

Of Masculinity, Desire, and Bottled Up Emotions.

I find emotions sometimes to be a strange thing, and my desires I deem selfish.

Growing up with school and experiencing hurt from my own family, I had learnt that people generally won't care much for my feelings. But I also learnt that it is good and all the better to give and serve others first despite whatever reciprocated. Whatever I get is merely a bonus.

While this whole thing about being the bigger person was something I thought I knew at the time to be the better thing (or the greater good) to do, I ended up repressing certain things which hindered me from also receiving and better enjoying, well, love.

I have unlearnt it somewhat. Yet, I still struggle and I relapse into this mindset that my emotions are invalid because I have been set on denying myself and refusing to be selfish for others' sake.

Not to say that I don't open up or be vulnerable. I am, only with certain trusted friends. Yet even then, not as often. A senior colleague at work sat me down and told me I was the type to keep to myself. To this, I agreed.

It's that sense of, again, being that bigger person and not wanting to bother others knowing that they also go through their own lives. Also, that sense of having things under control as a guy. So, even if I were to open up, where do I begin? There are so many things and yet, nothing at all. I had always thought feelings are fleeting, and that following wisdom and logical conclusions were the best way forward. But I am learning, perhaps, this is the struggle that makes us human.

I had learnt that, though I struggle with this, I am human too - made to love and to be loved, with the desire to love and be loved. (Whether I feel worthy to be loved is also another struggle).

As a young man, figuring out how to be a man (in control of one's self and emotions) is also one of the things I'm sorta figuring out. My ideal of what kind of man I would be one day if not already is to be strong, mature, and responsible.

The journey thus far had been a little lonely most times, but I now know I'm not really alone.

[thepoeticwit]

Echo

I write my songs in the echo chambers of my heart a deep dark dungeon of hellfire and unclean secrets only ever have my eyes seen my ears heard and my heart keep my demons tremble in awe of the songs I sing in the night Like a lamp in the corner of a dark house I wait for next morning I wait for a new sun to arise and resurrect me from this decaying carcass So that my soul can echo the song of twelve thousand elders and saints singing Glory, Hallelujah I've been set free But until that day comes I shall echo in the chambers and echo in the airwaves and wave my hands in surrender Here I am on my knees Almost giving up Almost giving in Almost giving Always Giving Echoes of a desperate dying heart hoping and waiting for such a day to come Glory Be To God.

[thepoeticwit]

AND HE CALLED IT "GOOD"

“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good...” (Genesis 1:31) What’s so good about Good Friday? In fact, what’s so good about any day at all? We tend to take for granted everything that has been given to us in abundance, or we only take notice when something affects us gravely. Let's look at it from God's perspective. In the beginning, there was pure nothingness. Then God said, “Let there be light”. There was light, and He called it good. Evening came, morning came. First day. Then the second day He created the skies, He called it good. Third day, God created land set apart from the waters called seas, and He called it good. He also created fruit-bearing plants, trees, and vegetation, and He called them good. Fourth day, the Sun, Moon and stars, and He called them good. Fifth day, all kinds of birds and sea creatures, it was good. Sixth day, land animals, beasts of the field, and insects. And then God said, “Let us make man in our own image, after our own likeness…” and there He created human beings, male and female, given dominion over creation. And He looked at everything He created and saw that it was very good. Each day is good as God used each day to create something from nothing. What about Good Friday? Jesus was beaten, whipped till His flesh got exposed, a crown of thorns pierced His head, arm pulled out of His shoulder, nailed and hoisted up naked on a cross for the world to see. There He bled and suffocated for hours, uttering only mercy and forgiveness to His enemies. Then He says, “It is finished” commends His spirit to the Father, and breathes His last. His work was complete - it was very good. Just as each day was used to accomplish creation, God used each day, and especially this day, for redemption. Of what we failed to be, He became for us, so that we may be restored. So the next time you wonder “what’s so special about today?” just remember: God uses each day to redeem us and create us anew in the Son. (Genesis 1:31; John 19:30)

[thepoeticwit]

Child’s Haiku

Little child dancing freely in the public square, may you live boldly.

Little boy singing lovely within her midst, grace your sister’s ears.

Little kid running through life’s maze without a care- Please be free, be free.

Little child growing up through all life’s burdens be always sweet and true.

[thepoeticwit]

Mortal Instrument

The only days Death has ever drawn close to me were when he left his shadow grazing over this frail body. Sleep deprived, feverish, weak heck of a boy. A soul so agonised over the war within, a mind so twisted and perverse. A heart, that still beats however crooked. A body, weak; a human, depraved. I remember those days. Sickness pays his visits over the seasons. Fevers, influenza, intense food poisoning, coughs so bad I end up praying "Lord, have mercy" each time.

Yet, I see others like me Suffer disease like they've gone through hell Got into accidents that'll take them a while or never to get back from. See the news and see people close to me been closer to Death than I've had before. I laid back and watched the sky as the clouds flew by It just hit me that one day, it'll be me. God help me, I'm no different. I'm barely even a saint Just as evil as everyone else To think that in my youth, I'm some sort of a god an invincible immortal that could ascend the heights and become the greatest of them all. But then I look at the sky, and wonder "What is man, that You think of him? And the son of man, that You visit him?" I am reduced to nothing, my passions, dreams and ambitions are all but folly-- vanity of vanities like chasing the wind. I am losing my edge. I no longer write these poems the way I used to. I take longer to write essays. It gets more difficult to stay faithful in the faith that I have. The "amazing" parts of me are fading, bleeding, dying. It gets just as difficult socialising when you are not the extrovert you used to be. Death has already been part of the default nature I so have, though I do not yet taste it. Still I crave for Life, clinging on to Hope. Still I live, for Love's good name's sake. Still I live and wage war against Death, aspiring to be a vessel to preach the Good News of Eternal Life.   Indeed I am unworthy, day by day I am undone. Yet even more so, though I may die For now, I shall live.