Of Fallen-ness and Salvation

Unedited - sorry, you get the rough draft. Just too frustrated tonight not to put something down.

People. If, in the end, it all comes down to people; it means fighting and pulling and shoving and grabbing and wanting and needing.

And hurting.

It comes down to selfish words and slicing statements meant to harm.
It comes down to hate and envy and wanting revenge - wanting my own way and demanding to be heard and fighting for what's mine and what I think I need.
It's about greed and jealousy and suspicion and treachery.
It's about wanting and warring and being better than you.
It's about me and mine and ultimately - my need.
It is the ugliest, dirtiest thing you've ever seen.

It is the darkness of the soul.

It is vicious and loud and cunning and piercing. It invades and infects and controls and permeates. It pushes and distorts and wrestles and calls.
It is a darkness that makes you wonder if you've ever seen light. It's a filth that makes you question if you've ever been clean. And it comes and picks and destroys and breaks you down until you can no longer stand.

In the end, it is a heavy darkness of a hopeless heart.

But it is not truth. And it is not the end. There is another way - a better way.
A Way that lifts and lives and builds and protects and sees in bright color.
It hopes and heals and restores and reassures and calms.
It speaks peace and climbs and discovers and wills to have all creation rise with it.
It desires and trusts and speaks and sings and shouts. It rises higher and moves onward and outward and upward. It does not stall or pause but pushes forward with the intensity of life and love and goodness.
It cannot be stopped, it cannot be slowed, cannot be diminished. It cannot be hidden or avoided or mistaken. It cannot be misunderstood or forgotten.
It stands.

Always.

Forever.

This is where I choose to stand - where I choose to go - who I choose to be.
I am moved by power not my own, guided by wisdom I do not possess and see things my hands cannot reveal.
I am a witness to the wonder beyond my greatest imagination and formed daily by a hand so mighty, yet unseen. Here confusion becomes clear, and weakness becomes strength, darkness becomes light, and goodness - goodness is a perfect purity that permeates existence.

It is here that I stand.

It is here that I wait.

It is here I believe.