It is finally here, the much anticipated, the dreaded, the eager, the frightening, the bitter-sweet, the fulfilled moment.
In just a few hours I’m leaving our hotel in Paris, where we had a twenty-hour layover and spent some time exploring the ancient city of lights, music, food, love, and any other superlative added onto the end of its name, and very soon I’ll be on a plane bound for home!
I can’t believe it. I will miss it, but I think I’ll miss the people more than I thought I would at the beginning.
To sum this all up, I wrote a poem to my squad-mates for our final debrief as we shared last words of advice, comfort, encouragement, and hope for ahead. Writing it has even helped me process the heartbreak that accompanies this moment of physical separation from people that I’ve grown close to over these past eleven months, not forgetting the transcendent reminder of what we all suffered, labored, taught, encouraged, and enjoyed for, and to whom we desire to make known as He is known in us and we in Him.
Here it is:
Heaven Bound
Once strangers met on a cold afternoon some time ago,
whether it was weeks or years they no longer seem to know.
The sun had risen and set their days, each bringing
the question: “What am I doing here?”
Still they did not know.
Once, as strangers, they left. Their flight from home
let their unkept feet see, wander, and roam.
The sun had risen and set their days, each bringing
the question: “How much longer here?”
Still they did not know.
Then. Something strange happened.
At once, they all turned their ears closer to the sound of a faint whisper
coming from a name to whom was given gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
The son had risen and set their days, each bringing us
the question: “What are You doing here?”
Soon they began to know.
Once, as strangers, they laughed, and some thought it was silly,
but all by the end no longer saw strangers but family.
The sun had risen and set their days, each bringing
the resolution: “I don’t want to leave here.”
They now know –
They leave behind time to enter eternity,
forsake their humanity to embrace His divinity.
