The Mountain

As Moses said, a life is seventy years,
Or eighty, if strength he can display;
But our pride is labor and sorrow,
For we like it, are soon gone and fly away.
So, life is like two sides of a coin,
Having a heads and a tails;
Or like a high mountain peak,
With the journey up and down, its trails.
Either way, just like in the wilderness,
By both the children and God’s son.
And just like those eight saved souls,
Closed in the ark before the rain begun.
One period of testing is completed,
With one remaining still.
The former filled with trials and temptations,
The latter, the same, right over that hill.
So, it seems only relevant,
Upon this precipice profound;
To stop and consider the past,
Before the trek towards the ground.
For instance, look off in the distance,
Probably too hazy for me and you;
But borrowing your parents telescope,
The birth of a little flower comes into view.
She a little shortstack of pancakes,
A Disney princess raised in Queens;
Yet embedded within her very DNA,
Was a manual of government routines.
Now trace the path to the present,
Through summers of sugarcane.
Through coloring walls with imagination,
Through days of scooter sharing pain.
On up through countless lessons,
Both of music and of life.
Where despite all orderly planning,
It was a west Texan that made you his wife.
Then here the climb began to steepen,
And gravity fought every move;
From townhouses up to RV compounds,
It might be hard to see how things have improved.
There was a slip on a childless loose rock.
Over here some missed expectations.
And who could forget the many cold nights,
With left for dead aspirations.
But the greatest lesson that must be learned,
Before traveling down that hill;
Is that where gravity once fought against you,
It now propels you, even against your will.
And so, with this message comes a warning,
If you carry every dream for the long haul;
As you’re coming down the mountain,
It’s much easier for you to fall.
So, to face the road that lies ahead,
Means forgetting the things which are behind;
And pressing on towards the goal,
Of the life our God has assigned.
For who really knows what lies ahead?
Who can shape every twist and turn?
Who can control, say a mother’s death?
Who lives their lives free of concern?
You see this upcoming period of testing,
Isn’t about wrestling control of life’s line;
It’s actually more about coming to Him,
The one who turns our water into wine.
He is the one who saw you,
Inside your mother’s womb.
At your side every step of the way,
Even unto the last, the tomb.
So, for all the days from now until then,
And all of the moments in between;
I’ll not only cherish the time He gives,
But pray for His continued work unseen.