all that i am

All flesh is grass
and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field
the grass withers
the flower fades
because the breath of the Lord blows over it
Surely the people are grass
the grass withers
the flower fades
but the word of our God stands forever
      Isaiah 40:7

Set your minds on things above
not on the things on the earth
     Colossians 3:2

temporal
eternal

what are we doing
in this place we live?

this place that once was
sepia
black and white
koda chrome
and now is digital

this always changing
always moving place

what is eternal
today?

one thing I know
always
those four lives
I once carried within me
are eternal
always

but

the day to day
today

changing the merchandise
again
from summer
this time
into fall
into Christmas
"hallow-thanks-mas" someone coined today!?!?

changing the 100's of lightbulbs again?

or
is sitting still

brushing back wisps of hair
holding a fragile hand
humming a hymn
and
thinking
praying
and waking in the night
preparing to talk to 40 teen agers
about the mystery of faith

how do I keep my mind set on eternity?
and my body's energy working toward the kingdom?
and live in the breath taking ordinary beauty of each day?

today the temperature in the 70's
and sun
and humidity
like summer

we live knowing this will all pass away

this place I sit
will one day
be a bedroom that belongs to someone else
another mother of children
or not

this work I do
will someday be done
by someone else
or not

we all have only our life to live
now
and forever

I'm in awe
of the living
and of the dying

even after a long long full life

even after years of life
condensed to one small room
confined to one little bed
without even a view

without eyes open

life is still clung to
even while knowing
there is another life
yet to be lived