Does anybody hear her?
Can anybody see?
Or does anybody even know she's going down today?
Under the shadow of our steeple
With all the lost and lonely people
Searching for the hope that's tucked away in you and me
Does anybody hear her?
Can anybody see?
Sometimes the Misery, the Lonliness, Misery, Emptiness, the Pain - these can all be SO Great. We cannot see past it. We cannot look around us to see that others are crying out as well. Does anybody hear her? No. I don't. I'm often too busy screaming myself.
Sometimes self-centered is simply survival. Eventually we learn to look past our own Pain and see that others are hurting just as bad as we are. And as sin exists - no one is without Pain of some form.
A while ago this song transformed for me. Every time I hear it now, I am reminded that I'm not the only one. To each and every degree - others are lost and lonely too. We are a marathon of people all racing from destruction, silently and blindly - unaware that we are not alone.
And then we stumble and bump into another runner. Then another. And another. Eventually we learn, and eventually we see the big picture. Does anybody hear you? I do. Even through my own Pain - I am learning to listen. It's still faint and I often have to strain my pathetic senses to catch the cries of another. Thankfully, I'm not the only one listening...
"I hear your cry.
It passes through the darkness, filters through the clouds, mingles with starlight, and finds its way to my heart on the path of a sunbeam.
I have anguished over the cry of a hare choked in the noose of a snare, a sparrow tumbled from the nest of its mother, a child thrashing helplessly in a pond, and a son shedding his blood on a cross.
Know that I hear you, also. Be at peace. Be calm.
I bring thee relief for your sorrow for I know its cause ... and its cure.
You weep for all your childhood dreams that have vanished with the years.
You weep for all your self-esteem that has been corrupted by failure.
You weep for all your potential that has been bartered for security.
You weep for all your talent that has been wasted through misuse.
You look upon yourself with disgrace and you turn in terror from the image you see in the pool. Who is this mockery of humanity staring back at you with bloodless eyes of shame?
Where is the grace of your manner, the beauty of your figure, the quickness of your movement, the clarity of your mind, the brilliance of your tongue? Who stole your goods? Is the thief's identity known to you, as it is to me?
Once you placed your head in a pillow of grass in your father's field and looked up at a cathedral of clouds and knew that all the gold of Babylon would be yours in time.
Once you read from many books and wrote on many tablets, convinced beyond any doubt that all the wisdom of Solomon would be equaled and surpassed by you.
And the seasons would flow into years until lo, you would reign supreme in your own garden of Eden.
Dost thou remember who implanted those plans and dreams and seeds of hope within you?
You cannot.
You have no memory of that moment when first you emerged from your mother's womb and I placed my hand on your soft brow. And the secret I whispered in your small ear when I bestowed my blessings upon you?
Remember our secret?
You cannot.
The passing years have destroyed your recollection, for they have filled your mind with fear and doubt and anxiety and remorse and hate and there is no room for joyful memories where these beasts habitate.
Weep no more. I am with you ... and this moment is the dividing line of your life. All that has gone before is like unto no more than that time you slept within your mother's womb. What is past is dead. Let the dead bury the dead.
This day you return from the living dead.
This day, like unto Elijah with the widow's son, I stretch myself upon thee three times and you live again.
This day, like unto Elisha with the Shunammite's son, I put my mouth upon your mouth and my eyes upon your eyes and my hands upon your hands and your flesh is warm again.
This day, like unto Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus, I command you to come forth and you will walk from your cave of doom to begin a new life.
This is your birthday. This is your new date of birth. Your first life, like unto a play of the theatre, was only a rehearsal. This time the curtain is up. This time the world watches and waits to applaud. This time you will not fail.
Light your candles. Share your cake. Pour the wine. You have been reborn.
Like a butterfly from its chrysalis you will fly ... fly as high as you wish, and neither the wasps nor dragonflies nor mantids of mankind shall obstruct your mission or your search for the true riches of life.
Feel my hand upon thy head.
Attend to my wisdom.
Let me share with you, again, the secret you heard at your birth and forgot.
You are my greatest miracle.
You are the greatest miracle in the world."
~ The God Memorandum slash my Favorite Piece of Fiction written Ever Yet
And the Pain is now Receding and I am no longer fighting for breath underwater. God is Good and He loves me. Why? Because I am Valuable. To Him I am Worth Something. I get that now. It is not an earthly value. No - it is something far more than that. It is not based on looks, nor works. We are not worthy of Him, but we are made Worthy. We are treasured for God only knows why. It doesn't need to make sense to me, it just needs to be Trusted. And for that - I needed Him to be Trustworthy. And He is. So I do. And for now, for this moment, for this Pain - that is Enough. With God - I am enough. I am not Broken. I am not Worthless. And I still forget that. Constantly. Remind me God? Not "just one more time." Remind me all the time? Please? Please. Please remind me.
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