My perfect life

My perfect life is filled with many imperfections.

If I died today, I would be happy.

No, not because I got to working out after my one-week break or because, for the first time in a minute, I am ahead of my schedule.

No.

I have always struggled with living in the future; longer locs, a flatter stomok, a husband and children, vacations as often as I can manage, an account balance that is full and running over…

But what of now?

Some years ago, today was my perfect day. A thriving business doing what I love, siblings that I call friends and friends that I call family. A body that has not yet failed me, taste buds that know the difference between sweet and bitter, eyelids that quickly give way to sleep as my head hits my pillow, but also know how to brim with tears when pain engulfs my soul. Peace from the Prince Himself. Contentment that swallows me whole.

Life.

And what could be more perfect than life?

Don’t you see then? That your life might be is perfect right now? It could not be about what you do or own. If it were, we would deserve nothing but hell. For what do we have but what God has given?

I remember a poem I wrote in my anthology:

Ruby

Worried about many things,
yet one is necessary.
It cannot be taken away, this thing;it is precious like a ruby.

Come, let us reason together;
what lies at the core of the things you seek?
After they’ve made you happy or sad, whatever;
they steal your time, hear the clock tick.

But there is a certain business
that comes with an eternal reward.
It does not leave you in uneasiness
if you decide to be its steward.

It seems to restore time,
giving you a fail-safe to thrive.
It costs, but not a dime;
you have to pay with your life.

Excerpt From
Staying Soft
Maranatha

∞

This business is the business of blood. This ability to live daily in contentment is found only in the Cross. It is found in the One called Jesus.

If you find yourself constantly reaching for the future, you will find yourself constantly failing. The future always seems to preach happiness, but what it really offers is overspilling hope from the present. And hope is beautiful, yes, but not when it becomes a grasping that leaves a gaping hole within that threatens to destroy you.

Stay. Right where you are. He is there and He sees you. Like with Hagar. Do not think yourself forsaken. The only one He ever turned His back on was Jesus on that cross and it was because of you.

Are you sick? He is with you. Are you poor? He is with you. Are you lonely? He is with you. Does your heart hurt? His hand touches you.

If you let the Lord satisfy you, every nook and cranny, you will look and find the world to be bitter. You will find money a monotonous, utilitarian ding, and you will find ungodly pleasures a tedious adventure.

Only a perfect God could give a perfect life. If you serve Him, what you have right now, no matter what it looks like, is perfect. For it is where He will have you be by His Will. Can a child take better care of himself than his Father? Stay, my friend. Stay.

In the Holy Ghost, there is joy. This is a constant, not dependent on earthly variables. If He is with you, then nothing stops your joy.

Make that choice today. Make that change. And you will find living springs well up within your soul to give life to everything that you touch. To every place that you are. You will flourish in hope, a hope beyond this world. And your heart will be in heaven, for that is where your treasure lies.

P.S. – After writing this, I realised that maybe perfect was not the right word to use. Good is a better word. For a perfect thing has no fault or defects, and by that standard, all humans fall short. But good, a good thing is that which fulfils the purpose for which it is made per time. That is doable.

— Maranatha MMXXI.