Solitude Reflections - Part II (August 2026)

8-25-26

Like clockwork

Like the chimes that announce the time

    at the hour

    quarter past

    half past

    quarter till

    and again

I sat on this hill

    facing east in the darkness

    watching the pinks

    waiting for the sun to break through

It came! A new day!

And now I sit on the same hill

    this time facing west, darkness coming

    watching the sun disappear on the horizon

    and now back to the fading pinks

It left! Back in darkness

Every human on planet earth

    experiences sun up, sun down

    like clockwork

    day after day after day

        yet we do not marvel at the wonder of it all

Only an almighty God could set this into motion

I'm grateful that the Almighty God is also an infinitely good God

    and also my Friend. 

WOW!

8-26-26

HIKING

    9 hour Alaska hike with Lucas

    Chimney Tops hike as a family (including a 2-year-old)

    2 mile anti-climactic hike to Hanekamp's Old Homestead today

How did we get there?

Step

    by step

        by step

One foot in front of the other

Taking a break or slowing if needed but not turning back

Not giving up

Keeping a manageable pace

Singing or talking when able, silent when not

LEARNING JAPANESE

Unlike a hike, the goal of "fluency" is a little less clear on when I've "arrived"

    but it's a similar process

Step

    by step

        by step

One conversation at a time

One more listening exercise/textbook lesson/book to read

Keeping a manageable pace

If I keep at it, I'll reach my goal of ぺらぺら (fluency)

BECOMING LIKE JESUS

My ultimate goal is to look more like Jesus

Although I won't be perfectly conformed to His image

    until I see Him face to face,

    "I keep working toward the day when I will finally be

    all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be"

   

I still take steps

    intentionally setting into motion habits that help form me

    reading my Bible when I feel like it and when I don't

    showing up time and again

    keeping a manageable pace, singing as I go

Step

    by step

        by step

8-27-26

"Being a Christian

    is more than just

        an instantaneous conversion--

    it is a daily process

        whereby you grow to be

            more and more like Christ." -Billy Graham

Yes, all the splendor of justification

    was mine in Christ when I turned toward Him at 7

But it's been a continual process

    ever since that day

Daily choosing Him

Daily listening for His voice

Daily obeying His whispers

I haven't done it perfectly,

    but over time,

        I can see how these small choices

                                            and habits

                                                    have added up

This year marks 35 (!) years of following Jesus

    and I'd like to think

        I'm more and more like Him

            with each passing year

8-27-26

In an earlier poem,

    a phrase came to my mind

        to describe the frenetic season I was in:

    --I gave my life away to the church--

I wouldn't have said that at the time,

    but that's exactly what I was doing.

I wasn't pursuing Jesus -- I was pursuing more and bigger and better

I wasn't spending time in the Word -- I was too busy volunteering

I didn't cling to Jesus' words -- I took notes and re-listened to my pastor's

I didn't get a thrill from the Lover of my soul but from an exciting building campaign

Lord, forgive me.

It's kind of ironic because at that church,

    we often used the phrase 

        "give your life to Christ"

            but was that really the offer on the table?

    Or did we want more and more people who would

        give their lives away to the church, too?

Now, years later,

    I don't think my salvation was in question

    and my faith has, thankfully, emerged intact

        but I never again want to worship, revere, give my life away

            to any rival lesser

                than Almighty God

8-28-26

It's my last poem here on this holy hill before I descend

    to "walk down this mountain with my heart held high

        to follow in the footsteps of my Maker."

As much as I think I'd want to be cloistered away,

    You've set me in a marriage

                                a family

                                a church

                                a city that all contribute to who I am

                                and to them, I return

I return a different person yet the same

I feel unrecognizable

    after the daily sunrises, gatherings, hikes, savorings, reflections, sunsets

You've grown me up

You've restored my soul

You've reoriented me to my union with You

I've beheld the King of glory. You're beautiful!

I've breathed deep of these hillls,

    and I'm seeing in new ways

You've kissed me with the kisses of Your Word

    in a way I've longed for

You've had many gifts for me in the silence

Your job is to speak

My job is to quiet myself, hear, and respond

    and 65(!) poems later,

        I believe I've done just that.

Thank you for speaking...