Rescue

Rescue

I could spend the rest of my life feeding this monster

For when I starve it, it doesn’t go away

So either way I seem to be a perpetual roommate

To something that is destructive to me

Right in the midst of making history

Right in the midst of a changing tide I decide

To go back into the darkened waters again

Another swim

in the ice bath of indecision and doubt

Then a rout of the accusations begin

So another swim

I just keep going deeper and deeper

The sounds of happiness are outside in the back yard

Children running and playing

Speaking of things completely insensible

Yet of reality all the same

They are not naive nor are they ignorant

They are simply more aware

Of the life that is flowing through their hearts

The sounds of the music grow stronger

The chords bring meaning and wonder to me

They progress towards the oceans of deeper

Where light is in the depths of the sea

It was the laughter that made all the difference

It was the joy in the running that came

It was the smiles of playing innocent children

That brought me right out of mundane

K, Duane Carter 9/26/13

Stillness

Stillness

I need days like today

Quiet

Dark

Raining

Cool

Pain surging through my lower back

With every little move

So stillness is the order of the day

No frenetic activity

No urgent motion

Just quiet sitting listening to the waters flow

Just listening to the heartbeat grow

Toward a restful anticipation of good

I sense these things amongst the woods

The forests of soul and spirit 

I hear the beckons, I might be near it

I might be far away

Yet I would know nothing of anything this rainy day

Without the colors of the quiet

Autumn leaves outside my window

Bright reminders of brighter days

Shorter, still

I gaze out from the windowsill

There is always a spring after the winter

My soul for so long broken, splintered

Now the humus is ready for growth

Up into that never seen, never known

Up into all that has been known by the ancients

Up into all that is made to be me

I see the stately redwood trees

Are still with steadfast smiles

They’ve never moved an inch, a mile

Yet they know the vastness of the oceans

Because they understand the life of stillness

Quiet

Dark

Raining 

Cool

I have a day in wisdom’s school 

I have a day in the stillness

And I am so grateful for it

11/27/18

Emerge

 Emerge

I have stayed in my place

Rooted into the deep cool earth

Surrounded by design and purpose

Yet my branches were barren and cold

I felt I might be getting too old

And shivered at the thought of the end

But then the daylight grew longer

The chill of the night began to waver

I felt a stirring amongst the stillness of the snows

Despite the dark and the cold, my hope still grows

Then one morning it simply happened

Greenery, life began to appear

Rushing over my former barrenness like delicate waterfalls

An abundance

An overflowing of beauty and elegance and grace

I once again can lift my face

To see the wonders of the coming sun

I have emerged

And won.

2/9/18

Skylight

Skylight

I’ve spent this sunny afternoon

Lying quietly on the floor

Right below the skylight

Relaxing in the More

I listen to gentle embers

Humming through the night

I sense the change and beauty

That flows through release of light

I hear the sound of His humming

As He caresses the curves of my face

I feel the vibrations of His throne room

Every atom quiescent with grace

The movement of His Spirit is constant

I feel the warmth of His wind and the chill

I am flattened by the beauty and wonder

Within these moments of just being still 

I see His stories pass by as the clouds move

I see His motions in love and in dance

I sense the immensity of His great loving Presence

I see Life is a growing romance

K, Duane Carter 4/19/13

Sense Eternal

Sense eternal

there seems to be a place where I live

yet I cannot seem to dwell there

I cannot seem to breathe the air there

all the while smoldering in this sordid heat

and dryness, dark and dust

I live in a land of angels and oceans

Streaming rivers, birds in flight

Mists dancing with the mountains

Where words are never enough

You have to breathe in the beauty

For it just becomes a part of you

I feel it in the depths of me

I know I am there

I can feel the colors, the sounds 

The movements of the symphonies eternal

yet I can still smell the dust, the heat

Instead of running through golden fields of wheat

I simply sit here and yearn for more

I refuse to live in an unending chore

But rather dwell in the beauty

Knowing that it must flow forth from me

Water for the trees

Healing for the nations

Joy and hope and deep libations

Of all that is good and real

there seems to be a place where I live

I simply have to dwell there

or maybe rather let it dwell in me

K, Duane Carter 6/29/13

Sun

Sun

I ride by the mystical mountains

upon a purely white, God-breathed note

I slip into His eternal chambers

with a single bright sound that He wrote

I allow my spirit to return quickly to Him

without shame I no longer hide

as I move into the fire of His sun

He moves me into this mythical ride

The myth is more than just happenstance

The truth is simply too much to flee

The throes of His love are simply too much to grasp

Until I realize their grasp is on me

I ride by the Mystic of mountains

resting on this purely God-breathed note

I lie here in His eternal chambers

being the song that He wrote

K, Duane Carter

Shed Light

It saddens me that Christians don’t even understand the cross.  The very thing that symbolizes “Christianity” is disregarded, it’s meaning and power are completely ignored, and it’s message is NOT distributed by the very ones that wear the symbol on their shirts, necklaces, and ear rings.  And what I mean by that is all of this negative “these are the things that are going to happen to America if we don’t change” stuff.  I particularly love the word “judgment” (which in most circles is the equivalent of the word “punishment”).  BUT, we have got to understand something that is foundational to the greatness of the gospel:  the judgment of God has ALREADY occurred, and it occurred at the cross.  God has ALREADY judged the world, and He has already judged the enemy and inflicted the penalty ON JESUS at the cross.  He’s not going to release judgment (and understand that I am using the word ‘judgment’ here in the context of ‘punishment’) because He’s already released that.  What He is waiting on is for those of us who call Him “Father” to begin to live like the sons and daughters we are.  He’s waiting on us to live like the free people we are.  He is waiting on us to love.  That’s it.  He’s not waiting on us to beg Him not to smash us.  Maybe we should begin to ask the questions like, “We’ve been praying these things for years now, so why aren’t things changing?  Why isn’t this working?”  The answer is NOT because we aren’t protesting enough, being vocal enough, or praying hard enough.  It’s because we aren’t praying God’s heart.  Yes His heart is restoration, revival, and reformation of the nations.  But this will happen in love, because love never fails.  Punishment fails because it’s based in fear.  So please dear children of God, please STOP using fear as a “motivator” because that isn’t motivation or encouragement, that is manipulation.  Don’t give me the “love can give warnings” stuff either.  That misses the entire point.  Yes, love can give warnings, and right now it is warning us that we must do things God’s way, in love, and His way is not filling people with fear about crises and storms and wars.  If people in the church can’t get it that we are to love others and walk in the authority He gives us in that love, then I tell you He is going to find people that will (remember the Jesus movement?).  There’s the warning.  If you’re sitting in the community of Christ and propagating fear, then continue to expect things to look like they’re getting worse.  If you’re determined to love and love deeply, then get ready for the world to  change.  Get ready to be able to actually see things the way God sees them.  He isn’t worried, nor is He afraid.  It is very easy for light to remove darkness, and the darkness has already been conquered.  Remember this short sentence which I think personally is one of the most powerful statements ever made:  Love never fails.  

Shed light.  Shed light by letting love loose.  THAT is what will bring change to this nation and to the nations of the world. 

Ancient

Ancient

There is tremendous pressure when from the seed breaks the shoot

There is a great energy spent when the infant comes from the womb

There is enormous straining as the butterfly escapes the cocoon

So why should my life be any different?

There is a great fragility as the shoot breaks through the soil

There is the same as the infant breathes in the toil

There is that moment that the butterfly cannot 

So where am I in this vulnerability?

There is tremendous stability in the ancient oak

There is a vast wisdom in the ancients’ cloaks

There is truth and wonder in the butterfly’s flight

So why should my life be any different?

K, Duane Carter 2-16-12

Let There Be...

Darkness, steeped to the foundations

Chaos, the only stirring in the night

Until a ever silky breeze enters in

The ever-listening heart of God

Hears the Word of the Painter

He smiles, and He silently opens His wings

He hovers

A gentle voice, like that of a lovely woman

Goes forth

Simultaneously the universe trembles

And it has never stopped since

There, cutting through the darkness and chaos

Was light, and life and color

Beauty and wonder

The laughter still has not ceased

Neither will our wonder at it all

See this is all above the fall

The Laughter never ceases

It just continues to expand and expand

In every direction

Through every parameter

Blowing through all of our paradigms

Misting through all of our walls

Showing up in all of the oddest places

Where it perfectly fits the all

K, Duane Carter 11-26-11

I was deeply inspired to write this after listening to a song entitled "Let There Be" by Gungor.  If you're interested in listening, it is off their newest album entitled "Ghosts on the Earth."  I was going to title the poem something different, so I wouldn't have to bear the guilt of feeling like I had plagiarized it, but the title was just too perfect for me to give up.  Thanks to the Gungor crew for releasing such beauty and creativity and sharing it with us all.  By the way, if they are ever in your area GO SEE THEM.  You will never forget it.  They put on the most powerful and beautiful live performances I've ever seen.  Don't miss it if they are close by.  :)

Hidden

Hidden

I feel like this

I have been created to shine

Yet my wings are still folded

I quietly rest sublime

My head bowed slightly

But my eyes open

Though they are still covered up

By His hand

He readies me to see His face

He roots me in the land

Green surrounds me

It brings in nourishing light

Just when no one is watching

Just in the midst of the night

I will burst forth

Because I will have seen His glory

Life will come

It will never end

I will be more than servant or friend

I will be son and bride

With nothing to hide

Nothing to hide at all

Even if I’m forever hidden

K, Duane Carter

9-10-11

Take the Step

Take the Step

I stand on the precipice

The place where if I leap

I leave behind all that has given me life

Yet have I had life

When I’ve stood alone?

All alone in my self-reliance and my achievement

I see that if I leap there is a great valley before me

I can’t even see the end of it

Yet there are also great mountains

Incredible forests

The running river

And wind

I can’t stand here any longer

Nor will I retreat

I step off an edge into the unknown

Feeling a breeze beneath my wings

That I didn’t even know I had

I breathe in glad

 K, Duane Carter 9-1-11

Surrounded

I walk along a path of stone

Ground by years of wear

I suddenly sense a Greatness near

Yet I know not why or where

I lift my head and see the vastness

The granite, the stones, the trees

I suddenly sense I am surrounded by Love

I stop and I go to my knees

I am completely encircled by Someone beyond

I am completely enamored and awed

I am so mesmerized that I barely can breathe

I just know I must give Him my all

The mountains cry out and speak His name

The trees list silent in the winds

I shrink to the size of a quark of a seed

I hear His voice call me “friend”

I am surrounded

K, Duane Carter 8-15-11

No rmal

No rmal

There’s nothing worse for a poet

Than to have no poem

But even darker still

Is a life with no desire

An existence with no burning fire

Long has it been quenched and calmed

Into a vicious and nasty state

Known as normal

It’s time to arise

It’s time to arise

To stretch out those broken wings to fly

(For how will you taste healing unless you fly again)

Feeling the winds of yearning begin to lift you up

To taste the sweet and bitter cup

Of the real and untamed and glorious Fire

Of the deep and haunting chalice of desire

Begin to dream again

Begin to call impossible friend

And watch him yield to the sight that is within you

Who makes all things new

K, Duane Carter 7-13-11

Thoughts

Just a regular blog entry today folks....


I was wondering something today as I read an email from a good friend of mine.  She was recounting the story of the 12 spies who went to the Promised Land and how 10 of them basically by negative news kept at least a million people out of what was to be their destiny.  That got me to thinking about how we as Christians are often known for what we stand against and not what we stand for.  What would happen if we began to quit praying against evil and started praying for the release of good?  What would happen if we would quit spending hours getting all of the bad news in our emails about all of the garbage going on and quit spending hours praying against the schemes of the enemy, and we began to take that time and pray for the release of the kingdom of God on the earth?  What if we began to pray for the release of love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, gentleness, meekness, self-control, justice, and righteousness, and JOY?!  What if?  It’s not bad to know what is going on, but I am beginning to wonder if it is not good to react to evil instead of proclaiming the good.  I wonder if our humanity tends to react to evil more in soulish and fleshly ways, and our proclaiming good operates in more of the spiritual dimension and opens us up to being invaded by God Himself.  Just a thought.  I wonder if anyone out there is willing to step into this.  Let's focus on praying for His Presence in situations, and I bet all of the bad stuff just bends its knee to the God of the Universe.  That isn't just revival...that is reformation. 

The Chasm

Sometimes living poetry

Is like looking into a deep, dark chasm

I see nothing

I feel nothing

Yet I know something is out there

In there, within the darkest depths

And suddenly and without any explanation

There I just step

Falling, falling, falling

Into a place I know not

To a destiny I know not

Yet I feel the air around me growing thicker

And there is a slowing of my descent

And I feel my wings getting stronger

Strong enough to simply put them forth

And the air builds up below me

And now I am headed back up towards the lights

Able to see where I just journeyed

Seeing creatures and creation like never before

Seeing myself like never before

And it all started at the edge of a dark chasm…

K, Duane Carter 10-18-10

Choose

Choose

My mind is a barren wasteland

Quiet in a hardened steel kind of way

I feel the pull of the tug to join into the fray, yet

That is just a place of distraction, diversion

It is truly not the place where there is quiet rest

That place is found in the garden of the nest

Where wings of love and goodness cover

Where dreams untold are now discovered

Where truth and beauty are always revealed

Where the steel of my mind does bend and kneel

To the greater gift of goodness, to the greater truth of light

And in that place I truly discover the purpose of the night

I still am in the barren, yet my feet have begun to move

To find the land of goodness I simply have to choose

And not put it off for another day, another time

Today I will enter my rhyme

It is time

K, Duane Carter 9-13-10

Snowflakes

Snowflakes
The snow is falling looking like so many angels
Drifting white beauties announcing God’s goodness

The world in silent stillness waits
For the announcement to be
As the snow drifts on the tree
We all long to see something real
No more talk about kingdoms surreal
Only a walking with the snowflakes lighting on my face
Only a dancing, rejoicing, and breathing in grace
Though in silence they fall, they release out a roar
That changes our world, our spirits to soar
And in the quietness of the falling, we rise to the sun
Hidden behind the gray clouds is the Glorious One
I see the snow drifting, shifting, dancing
And Jesus is calling us to His romancing
He makes my heart pure, He calls it forthright
And just like the snow I become gentle and white

Yet a force that takes earth and makes it beautiful

K, Duane Carter 2-15-10