Wild Waves and Words

There is no grief like the grief that does not speak.
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 

Words stir in me, rising like the tide, wild and wondrous. The waves break and then subside. Out to sea once more, I can no longer reach them. I go silent and the ache inside me grows stronger.

These lost words tell of the beauty I see, of the light and dark that flutter in and out of my line of vision. I want to tell the world that I see God in my grief and in my garden and inside the walls of hospital rooms. To tell of the God that is within me and shines in the eyes and hearts of those I work and rub shoulders with. Those I have snippets of conversations with, who thirst and hunger on my street corner and in whom I share life with and love more than any word can speak. 

I want to tell of the freedom I ache for, the light I crave. The visions I see of a world without all this groaning. A world being made new, midwifed by all who see beauty in the dark places, the tangled weeds, the rubble and the war. 

I want my words to ring loud with hope like a bell on a church steeple.
To shine bright like a lighthouse, leading home the lost at sea.
To watch, wait and welcome like a house on a hill. 

Yet the waves of this life keep crashing and raging. They keep knocking me down and knocking the wind and the words right out of me. Even so, I can no longer contain the waves that keep rising within me. The words I must allow myself to speak, to ring out, to proclaim loud and true. To illuminate my corner in this world, my small lot within this precious life.

I see God in all things, birthing new life. His glory ringing truer, stronger, more wild and wondrous than my words can ever speak. I am made to write, to put words on paper and proclaim life and hope to a world broken and beaten down. This world is groaning as in childbirth to be made new and I have eyes to see and a voice to ring loud, 

I am a bell ringing out.
I am a light piercing the dark. 
I am a house on a hill. 
I am a midwife calling forth wild hope
and wondrous new life through the wielding of my words. 

God is for us. 

His love made a way through the wild waves of this world by giving us Jesus, Immanuel.

God with us. 

He has given us the Holy Spirit who guides us towards the Way, the Truth and the Life. 

God within us. 

He is the Word and the Truth  that I see and must speak. 
In Him, I am free. These waves have no power over me. 

This post was inspired by the new movie, out in theaters this Christmas season called, “ I Heard the Bells” which is about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s life story. It is profoundly beautiful. I can’t recommend it enough. It spoke to me so powerfully. While Longfellow’s life had great loss and tragedy, I was able to relate with his struggle with writing during a time of tremendous grief. While also inspiring me not to remain silent but to share my unique voice. 

I have been silent on my blog for a year now and I believe it is because I too am grieving. Not because of one great loss but because of many small yet significant losses. I am writing this because I know that I am not alone in this. We are all grieving individually and collectively in big and small ways and sometimes mere words can not express how our hearts are aching. I hope and pray that my words will bring renewed hope and inspire you to be a strong voice of hope to this weary and waiting world. 

And in despair I bowed my head;
‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said;
‘For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!’

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
‘God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!’
-From “Christmas Bells” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
from my heart and home to yours! 

In love and grace, 
Heather