“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” ~Emma Lazarus
Sometimes the constraints of the world are so great. I long to be free but continue with my burdens until I reach a shore open and gentle enough to receive them. A benevolent country, a noble friend, a kind humble stranger, a caring group. Someone, somewhere opens arms or glances warmly and the straps on my back and weights on my mind loosen.
These are temporary, worldly moments, only echoes, reflections of the immense burden laid upon each one’s nascent glimmer of life. I was born wearing this onus of skin and bones, born with a burden of iniquity. I have never known how to live while carrying it and I never will.
I see Him on the shore and the burden rolls to the depths. It was never mine, He removed it. My spirit is bouyant and remembers how to sail. He waits with open arms and I am free. In Him I have always been free.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
Meeting God at the Park 