I am weathered but still elegant...
Have you ever realized how God can speak through so many different places, just to catch your attention? A song on the radio, a stranger's story, or a movie. Cinderella has long been one of my favorite fairy-tales. I love her heart. I love her ability to hope and dream. Today I just want to share it with you a little, so that maybe - just maybe - you can hear God in an "ordinary" place.
Once upon a time...
Day in and day out, each so much like the last, you work sun-up to sun-down. Your hands clean, prepare and maintain someone else's life. At their call you stand at the ready. It's your own home, walls, ceilings and floors you know like the back of your hand. So you serve willingly. Years have drifted by and you can hardly remember him now Your hero. Your champion. He left suddenly and it left a hole in your heart. The ache is still there, but the memory is fuzzy. Along with that has vanished the knowledge of who you were born to be. They've even changed your name, abused it every time it leaves their mouth.
Then one day someone walks into your life covered in light and full of life. And they see you - all of you. Even in your tattered, dirty state - they see your dreams in your eyes. And so they help your dreams take flight, bringing you out of the shadows. So off you go! A golden carriage sweeps you away to the castle and for that night you walk in wholeness and fullness, a dream awakened. When you arrive, oh the beauty seems impossibly grand! And as you look around a little doubt creeps in. You doubt that you belong. How could the king's castle be for you?
But then there are his eyes. Warm, smiling, absolutely entranced as he sees you. Somehow, in a sea of thousands of people he has seen you. The prince of the kingdom is captivated by you. Forsaking his position and duty, he takes you by the hand. He invites you.
Yet tomorrow comes, as all the days before and the dream seems like just a dream. The floors require your hands again and your clothes no longer shimmer in the moonlight. But his eyes. Under his gaze you had remembered who you are and it was all worth it. Soon word reaches your ears, and your heart begins to race. He is searching.
The prince is searching across the kingdom for the mysterious woman who captivated him. This woman who has stolen his heart. When he arrives they try to hide you, make you invisible. Once again his eyes are searching. And there you are. As you have been, day in and day out. And he knows you, who you really are and when he speaks your name it is safe in his mouth.
So let your heart dream, and when the Prince of Heaven invites you - take His hand. Your presence is captivating, enticing and needed.
I am weathered but still elegant,
oh, dear sisters in Jerusalem,
Weather-darkened like Kedar desert tents,
time-softened like Solomon’s Temple hangings.
Don’t look down on me because I’m dark,
darkened by the sun’s harsh rays.
My brothers ridiculed me and sent me to work in the fields.
They made me care for the face of the earth,
but I had no time to care for my own face.
Look! Listen! There’s my lover!
Do you see him coming?
Vaulting the mountains,
leaping the hills.
My lover is like a gazelle, graceful;
like a young stag, virile.
Look at him there, on tiptoe at the gate,
all ears, all eyes—ready!
My lover has arrived
and he’s speaking to me!
Song of Solomon 1:5-6, 2:8-10 (MSG)
Commenti