Mountain Journey

Mountain Journey

I have seen the vast mountain ranges

Covered in snow

Here I stand

A gnat amongst the Milky Way

Yet they beckon

These rising behemoths beckon

To come and see what dwells inside

See it is not just the visible beauty

There to be discovered

There is the more magnificent deep within

Waiting to be uncovered

Here, this place, is where life’s meanings are found

This place, here, is where true life resounds

I take a step

My feet sink into the snow

This process might be cold and slow

But I must take my place among the mountain tops

Mountain of Smoke

Mountain of Smoke

I stand at the base of the mountain of smoke

No thunder, no fire, no trumpets

Just stillness, quiet, wind

In the distance soft

An ancient flute begins to sing

Just stillness, quiet, and wind

And the sound of God walking in His garden

The opportunity rises again

Once again I am given a choice

Walk in the mists

Or not

I step upward

Gasping for air

But I won’t turn around

For I want the cloud to consume me

Yet it already has

I step onward

Gasping for air

I cannot turn around

I want the cloud to consume me

For it already has

K, Duane Carter 4-7-12

God's Country

God’s Country

I have come into the land of God

I am closer than I have ever been

Yet I have never been further away

It isn’t that my heart has strayed

Rather I am steeped in an aloneness

I’ve never had this before

This pressure that molds and forms

It makes and shapes and recreates

Something I could never have dreamed or imagined

I sense Him coming after me

With a passion that could only compare to a fiery wind

A heat, a power so massive that no one and no thing can stop it

Yet I fell nothing, see nothing, hear nothing

Knowing all the while it is right there behind me

Waiting to surprise me with such an abrupt suddenness

That my rocky heart must crack and bleed

A new one will take its place

Then the stagnant will erase

I have come into the land of God

I simply wait

I simply walk on

To the way where He’s already been

K, Duane Carter 7-28-11

Lassen Peak

Lassen Peak

I sit in a February sun

Breeze and sounds of movement on

The peak of Lassen set before me

Snowcapped and majestic and beckoning

I sense His moving deep within

I can’t hold back the motions that quickly sprint

Throughout my being as He draws close by

And there is not a doubt; there is not a sigh

Only a calm I’ve never know before

I think I just walked through heaven’s door…

K, Duane Carter 2-5-11

Lessons

Lessons
Ok, Lord I have spent the entire day avoiding You.
And here at 5:46 pm I have decided I can’t avoid You any longer,
I have to take the step toward stronger
and ask You what is up to snuff?
Am I a diamond so in the rough
that it is best to just let me be
and then let all of eternity
bring about the finished gem?
Do I go around this mountain again
for the 20- millionth time
simply looking for another dime
when my need is in the millions of dollars?
This predicament is enough to make me holler
for just the sheer feel of letting it go,
but then I find myself back in the drifts of snow
that leave my heart just cold and dark.
I take a walk down through the park
in search of anything that will bring the heat.
I continue on with my aching feet
and feel the wind against my skin
that tells me once and once again
I can’t see You when I’m looking at my woes.
Against everything within me this goes
but it just makes sense that darkness mows
against the light, yet when that switch goes on
guess which one runs in fright?
In silence does that darkness flee,
and this simply is a reminder to me
to turn on the light and let it be
just simply what it is: pure bliss.

K, Duane Carter 1-23-10

Tethered

Tethered

I am here at this place
A place where I feel tethered down
Yet resting in the waters
I have risen above the waters to see Your glory
And though it is so bright no man can look upon it
Yet I rest in the peace of this water
Knowing my chains are loosed
Knowing I am not tethered anymore
Awaiting my moment to fly over those mountains
That were always so large and daunting before
Yet now they are only beautiful things
That I will be able to fly over
To get to that place that is closer to Your brilliance,
Your majesty and Your power
I am here at this place
A place where even though I feel tethered down
The Truth is right there before me
And I choose to believe Him
Over what I feel

kdc 9-14-08