Eyes Full of Empty Hearts

Our hands are never empty. 

Our eyes are ever filled with images 

that claim our lives are not what they could be. 

But images are fantasies of lives that don't exist, 

of happiness hiding in places it does not exist. 

We fill our hands and eyes with emptiness 

and wonder why we don't find happiness.

Weary Souls

Weary souls will find no rest on Earth, for rest is not relief this world can give. What this world has to give in sorrow and pain it gives without reserve and without remorse. We see with our imaginations how much better this life could be, but we are doomed to the reality life is never as good as it could be.

Beauty is a glimpse of light beyond a veil of darkness, a sweet breath of air in the midst of suffocation. Beauty is a tease, the scent of a meal we don't know whether we will ever eat, exquisite and elusive.

Bodies will revel in pleasure and writhe in pain, but there is something beyond what bodies perceive, beyond pleasure and pain. Music that tickles the ear can drive hands to clap and feet to tap, but there is music that sets the depths of our souls vibrating to the frequency upon which the very song of life sings its unceasing tune. It is the light of truth breaking through the mist like warm sun rays through cold morning fog. It is the promise of rest for weary souls.

Labels

We have to use general labels to describe ourselves and each other because that is the best we can do.  The problem so often is we limit ourselves and others to those labels.  When I now tell people I am a stay-at-home dad, they filter that label through their experiences and information.  A stay-at-home dad could conjure very different pictures for people depending on their life experiences and information.  

When not used precisely, words are of very little use in getting to know someone.  Words can help us understand each other, but they can also separate us when we do not use them carefully.  

Labels can be a huge source of misunderstanding when we do not ask clarifying questions.  A label is a beginning, a conversation starter, not a definitive statement about who someone is.  Our labels just help us determine the right questions to ask if we want to know and be known.  We use labels because they help us describe what we are like, but they are not specific enough to tell us who we really are.  

God alone knows our true names, our unique identities rather than the collection of labels we wear throughout our lives.  All those labels change, but what part of us endures through all the labels?  That part dances just beyond the reach of our intellect because it gets lost in the inevitable inaccuracy of human description.  That is who we really are.  It is the soul and it yearns to be called by name.