My words will not last

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My words will not last,

No matter how wise they may seem

For time will dust them away,

In its endless task of cleaning

 

But if by grace I am able to inspire

One other soul to love

To take the risk of love, for the sake of love

Then I will have written something that will forever endure

For it will be written on the heart of another human being…

 

Words will one day pass away

But the love we release into creation will never be lost

          Steven Charleston

__________________________

 

I wake this morning

Knowing that some morning

I will not wake

 

My tired rising

My aching body

The haunted face in the mirror

Give testimony to my mortality

 

Statisticians say I am maxed out

(life expectancy for males having dropped in 2021 to 73)

A sobering thought

That one is living on borrowed time

 

So I wander, back along my stumbling steps

Wondering

About the sum of my life

 

I have done some good

I have done things that are a cause for shame

I am kind and cruel

I am disciplined and impulsive

I am giving and needy

 

I have helped people and hurt people

I have been someone to admire

And a profound disappointment

 

And I have written a lot of words

Words

Words

Words

 

Three books

A blog

Sermons

Posts

 

Words

Some of them are powerful

Some of them insipid

 

Words on paper

Words on a screen

Words spoken into the air

To ears listening and not listening

 

Ah

But have I written on any hearts?

Have I been able to stop being assertive

Stop being “right”

Stop being the one who “knows it all”

Stop being opinionated

 

Have I been able to put my impulsive need

For praise, for admiration

For comfort

For acceptance

Enough

To think of others?

 

Have I had moments when I have listened

Been kind

Been giving

 

Have I loved?

 

Have I been one who has

Released love into creation

As much as I have released need into creation?

And fear

 

I know that I am loved

By Love

I know that when the averages find me

I will return to love

But it would be nice to think

 

That I have left more than empty words behind

 

That I have left some love behind

Planted somewhere

In someone’s heart