pre-Easter meditations on life and creation

my eye is my camera
i see beauty, a crispness that is unmistakable
i see things that are not always as they should be
and i am left wanting more

my computer is my paper
i write words that somehow portray what life encapsulates
sometimes they are words of disenchantment
sometimes words of hope, and there is hope, a great hope for this world i live in
a hope that is mine, and founded upon the gospel of jesus christ
which has set me free to love this world, often in spite of itself, always because it is god's creation

my book is the world
i hear hurt, fear, sadness
i perceive lost hearts that crave something more
what we settle for is often astonishing...
i know that there is something more
i read this world every day and i want to speak into it
i want to love it passionately
i want to move in it in a way that is enriching, renewing, inspiring
i crave what i alone cannot achieve
and i alone won't achieve it
but that is the gospel, in its essence
because of the message of the gospel i have learned that i wasn't meant to live in my own strength

my heart is alive
and i want to engage what stands before me
because i have been set free from the bonds of sin
i live as one who is no longer dying
but awaiting the fulfillment of a story instated at the beginning of creation
i look ahead to my resurrection, as i look back at him who was resurrected on the third day
he died on the cross for my sins, and rose from the dead pointing towards a new life
he sits now, already, at the right hand of god, interceding on my behalf
i have a great savior, i have a great god
i live because of this
eternally
i will live forever because of this
i press on because of this
i have hope because of this
and life makes sense because of this
the truth has set me free

"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" -John 8:36