Hiding

I hide because I'm scared and lonely. I hide, waiting, so that tomorrow may come and today's fears and challenges may slip away.

A Bit of Poetry

Here's little poem I wrote the other day.

Ashes

It

came.

It

came

slowly.

It came,

slowly at first,

but soon it swept in, out, over, and through.

It split bark and crushed undergrowth.

It melted

life.

Seasons came.

Seasons went.

Rain fell.

Snow piled.

Hail shattered.

Sun

shone.

And amidst the black, darkened

timbers, there was hope.

It peered

out from amongst

the shadows. The wind, brushing away

the dust, revealed

green,

and life

arose.

The Gleaners

Here's another poem I wrote this last fall semester. It's based on the painting "The Gleaners" by Jean-François Millet.

The Gleaners

Did Millet know?

Did he know what he had painted?

Of course, he knew,

though all others criticized. They,

the criticizers, knew not what he had painted,

what he meant by each and every brushstroke, each

careful swoosh of each

forkful thrown high to land with a soft

gurgle of water over pebbles.

"Revolution!"

they cried. "Revolution!

is his purpose!"

How sorely they missed it: how beautifully and simply and fully he made

these, the gleaners.

Yes,

they are peasants.

Yes,

they are poor,

yet see

how they live!

They

are quiet, anonymous, and humble.

Bent low, hands out-stretched, they brush their fingers along

the ground, searching to feel and feeling to search,

knowing the LORD

provides.

Millet, he knew.

Subtly mirroring

Ruth and her trust

for tomorrow's worries and sorrows,

the three gleaners work

in frozen posture, hoping

tomorrow's generations understand.

Coming Full Circle

Now that the semester is over, the fact that I will not be returning to Tech for the fall semester is really being to hit home. As I prepare for the multitude of changes I will be facing this summer and in the coming semester, I am reminded of a poem I wrote for my creative writing class this last fall.

Dishes

Around once, around twice, around

again and again she went, carefully

dragging striped cloth through watery

iridescence. Pulling back, her hands stung

like one thousand small pricks from one thousand microscopic needles.

How many more must she do before she was done?

Twenty? Thirty? Ninety?

"Because I'm your mother and I told you to."

"But it doesn't have to be done,

not now, not ever!"

she had said.

"Back in my day. . ."

"Back in your day, not my

day, not this

day," she had said.

Still, she went around

and around, like she had been doing for days, weeks, months.

Each circle brought more options

and more choices.

If only each circle

could be retraced back,

even as she now reversed

the motion of the striped cloth. Entropy

wouldn't allow it. Quandaries

became more complex

just as the universe became ever more unordered.

Would anything ever be simple;

would this

ever end?

Yes, this was it, the last

one. As she lifted it out, it shone

like a twin of the full moon, now rising

from the watery depths to meet

its partner at the sill. Stepping back,

she held out her hands, grasping

at thin air, as if to decide

which disk was hers.

Her focus wavered

and then came a crash

and a tinkling shower. The silent

patter of falling from her fingertips could not

then mask the flood. . .

pouring down. . .

and down. . .

her face.

It's About Time. . .

After close to a year, I am finally getting around to posting again. I meant to wait until I had written an article on Sola, the 2009 Higher Things Youth conference, but I'm not quite sure when I'll get around to writing it.

At any rate, this post is meant to be a quick summary of what's been happening since last April, with elaboration to follow at a later date.

I suppose I will start with the Sola conference. Our group attended the San Antonio, TX conference, and, as with all things Higher Things, it was wonderful. A little hot and humid for my taste, but oh well. One of the in-depth sectionals at this conference was an Organist Bootcamp, taught by Chris Loemker. There will be more on the impact this sectional had on me, but for now it will suffice to say that it has turned me a complete 180 degrees.

The rest of the summer was pretty quiet, apart from the fact that I found out that I was to be an RA. Overall, being an RA this year has been a good experience for me. It has strengthened my time management skills and my social skills. In other words, I have become not quite as shy, although it is something I still struggle with on a daily basis. That said, I don't think I would do it again. I have discovered that God has given me many gifts, but the skill of being an RA is not one of them.

As summer approaches, I have much to look forward to. This year, I will be attending the Rocky Mountain District (RMD) Lutheran Women's Missionary League (LWML) Convention as a Young Woman Representative (YWR). I will also be attending Given, the 2010 Higher Things conference. This year, instead of attending as a youth as in previous conferences, I will be attending as a Christ on Campus Volunteer (CCV). I am very excited to be working with Pastor Burhop and the other CCVs at the Logan, UT conference.

This summer is also going to be a time of transition as I prepare to transfer to Concordia University in Seward, NE to major in parish music. Although I believe that this is the best decision, it is difficult to think of leaving New Mexico Tech: I will dearly miss my friends and church family. This decision is tied into the Sola conference, but I will save the whole story for a later post.

Well, I think that about sums up what's been going on! Since it is late, I best be off, since tomorrow is another busy day.