Day One
There in the park they made a choice in life;
Some came from joy, some, times of dreadful strife;
They took with care their choice beneath the sun
To join us here, with us their life-course run.The Judge addressed the members of their group:
Acknowledged some had fled some awful coup;
Some made their choice with tears of sad regret;
Some not so much; some chose to just forget.Each raised a hand and swore to enter in
Life here with us, new chapter to begin
As citizens – take up the joint-life here,
A life of choice – build on what now appears.Then, later on, we watched a summer flick –
A Tom Hanks film about some guy and chick,
Each facing choices based on choice before;
As citizens, each faced an open door.The woman's ex had ended up a mess –
His chosen ways gave way to “none” and “less”–
The echoes in my life were strong, and yet
I saw redemption from that option-set.Some roads not taken in Frost's summer wood
Resemble those we missed (as best we could);
The difference shows in depth and quality;
The rest's the same – so much is wired to be.One simple choice (for God in Christ) was mine;
It flavoured all life-choices down the line;
My end-result was not shown in that scene –
Much better life, the life that mine has been.But for Your grace, O God, that was my road;
It's awful parts compounding weight and load;
A gift to me, way back, not yet a teen,
Of better life than what it might have been.The net results emerged slow, over time,
Ten-million choices made – some theirs, some mine;
And yet the frame of life was much the same –
A gift to me, of Life – from whence life came.I chose to walk with You, and with Your set,
Like citizens with vows in park, and yet
Not like those folks who'd traded land for land
From which emerges work, folk-cultures grand.For choosing “Life” speaks to the quality
Of life we want, and what we choose to be;
Responses to ten-million times of choice –
Some private ones, some votes of social voice.Our boundaries shift and change as years go on,
Reflecting private/social change begun;
But in the end, work from each place takes shape,
Defining outlines of the life we make.It's what we choose within constraints of land,
The quality of life that comes to hand;
That's where salt, light, and leaven enters in –
Enhancing choice above what might have been.Had You not said hello that sunny day
(When I'd fought sis for treehouse in our play)
And started up a friendship through the years,
No doubt my life would end in some-such tears.It was not me, but You the difference made:
A better life You temptingly portrayed,
Enabled me to choose it by Your grace
And walk it out – You brought me to this place.Lord for those folks still trapped in lands of hell
Before day-one with You helps life go well,
Through us salt, light, and leaven, give to each
That in their contexts all might fullness reach.navigation