Choosing the True: Galatians series - Christian Lindbeck (Gal. 13: 19-24)

We sing to you, oh, Mighty One.

Listen between breaths
to the whispers
that sing sibilantly
and coax us
into a deeper love,
into a closer and closer
facsimile
of Christ.

We know that ugly
behavior
results in ruin
and destruction -
seeded as it is 
by licentiousness
and selfish desire.

Put it aside.

You are recognized
as His own
when you choose 
love. joy. peace.
and all that flows
from these.

Let everything else
fall way
and grasp His hand -
unseen and impalpable
though it may be.
Hold to what you know
is True.

The True is
solid as a fortified tower
rising up
in the desert;
no fleeting mirage
nor subject to
whims of erosion
from the siroccos 
of time.

It is more true
than all that 
I hold dear in this life;
more true 
than all that I count on
daily
to delight,
sustain, and
color my life.

The Truth 
is greater than
all I fear,
see how it endures
in spite of me.

If I turn my back
on Truth
and choose my self,
wreckage 
will trail in my wake.

If I chose the True,
even though I stumble,
sweet fruit will bud
and grow within me.

As I walk
with uncertain
toddler steps,
I will try to match mine
to the imprints
of the Spirit,
see them embedded
in sand,
one by steadfast
one.