7/29/2015
We leave Africa to Nicargua tomorrow. It will be long travel days, so I ask that you pray for us, traveling mercies, and that no one be sick.
Last night we had a squad session that talked about freedom. Suddenly I felt the need to write about rotting flesh. Anyone who knows me knows that this isn’t something that I normally think about–or want to think about. I kept writing and the words became more extreme, but the poem came out easily. I shared it with the group, still uncertain who the words are for, but excited none the less.
Zombie to Phoenix (working title ha ha)
Written by Tori Thompson
July 28, 2015
Forgive me for the flesh I let decay and let rot,
asking you to revive it again and again
But with this zombie flesh
you’ve only been allowed to mend
but never to amputate
as is your desire.
You stand ready with the sword
and a new body
a new breath not tainted with carbon dioxide.
For you are not called the great inventor
but the only creator.
You don’t fashion for us paper wings
and design for us charming instruments.
You baptize us as the
beloved and dreaded
executioner
until our scales fall off
and we rise again as the phoenixs You made us to be
We breathe out our song of Ressurection
and beat with the melodies of our hope and joy.
The only way I can take Your hand to lead me to the water
the only way I can watch the sword fall
and not flinch
is to force my wandering eyes
to Your excruciating beauty and love
because it commands
it demands
action.
Instead of tiptoeing around the flames
satisfied by the warmth of the embers
I must plunge myself into the fire of Your truth
and let myself be
consumed
so that there is no escape
no doubt
of who You are
and who I am
in You.
Then I will finally see beyond the fear of the pain
of transformation
to the
extraordinary
I was
always
meant
to
live.
From these ashes
He lets me rise
higher and higher
beyond and beyond
further in and further up
whole
new
and
Free
