Accepting our Limits - Tim Knipp, 3/9/14

Preparing the ground -
         pruning back,
walking perimeters...

Out of the dust,
       God breathed
             and planted us.

Choose trust
          (eat-eat) 
and live,
      or grasp
         for immortality
      (choke-choke)
and die.

Accepting limits,
   falling backwards
onto the
    breath of God
takes courage.

Fighting boundaries,
     striving for
             super-hero status -
       even with impeccable motives -
                is futile.

The morning after miracles,
         hands grasped,
mouths gaped -
         Jesus moved on.
                     "This is why I came."

Make a "to don't list"
              to hedge you in
            against those temptations
       that pull you under
                and farther
                         from your soul's shore.

Tired, with blistered
       and dusty feet,
                Jesus sat.
       These bodies
                need our care
                     and daily maintenance.
No more three page run-on sentences;
we need commas,
               margins
            and
periods of rest.

Sometimes the walls
           are out of our control.
Live in trust
          within those limits.
                 Don't bang your head 
         against the walls -
        explore them,
                 know them,
                     and live within them...
                                  for now.

Original springtime 
         in the perfect Garden,
               a robin warbles
         while rich loam steams
                  with the sun's breath.
Adam and Eve
            reach up 
                     and outside their limits,
          grasping for more
                  and
            fall.

From palatial splendor
           and equality with God Himself,
                 Christ empties himself
                    and
           steps down
                 into our limits
                     to
                        serve.
                                    This is why He came.