i want

i want to 'spend' the rest of whatever life i have here
helping

i'm tired of wanting-to
tired of that nagging desire that stirs me
from time to time

i don't want that anymore
i want do
i want live-it
i want be-it

i want to hear his story
and her story
i want to listen
after they've eaten
and showered

i want to know what happened to them
how they got 'here'
and where their 'there' was they came from

i want to watch the face
the eyes
the hands
as the story rolls out
as the drama unfolds

i want to be in their world
to learn their way

to understand

i want to know why

and i want them to meet him
him, their lover

him, the one that cares
that sorrows over them
that compassions
with heavy heart
and bloody hands
dripping the blood-ransom he paid
for them
in hope

i want the face of their souls to smile
in the light of that gospel
that brings hope back
that energizes
that the entire creation sings for ...
like they did by the rivers of Babylon
where they sat down
remembering Zion

that smells like life
new life
life worth living
life that bursts with light

and hope

the hope that now seems so left-behind
so far back there
that you have to squint to get a glimpse

because
the eikon of Creator God
lives in them
as in me
in them too
as in you

in them

he is there
i want to see him there
in them
and embrace that

i want

i want ...

shalom