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

Mystery in the Mist

Mystery in the Mist
I am in the midst of this
A mystery of mysteries in the mist
A mystery of mysteries in the midst
No source of sun, no sign, no direction
No feelings of goodness, no answers to the questions
Only the sense that I am about to be soaked
One atom by one atom at a time
The Mystery will restore my rhyme
Literally saturating my DNA
And as I enter into life’s fray
I won’t understand, but I will know
Gladly into the Mystery I go
I won’t understand, but at least I will know
That gladly into the Mystery I go

K. Duane Carter 6-13-09

Arise

Arise
I am treading in very unfamiliar waters
No sign or sun or wonder to follow
Only quiet darkened mists and silence that is hollow
To point and show me the way
I stand still, very still
Because I hear the noises calling
Yet I listen for the voice, the voice
The One that makes my heart rejoice
But I only hear the rumblings
Of the deeper tempests tossed
He led me here, He led me here
I said that I would not, I would not fear
Yet I may have spoken quite prematurely
Yet He led me here, He led me here and surely
He will see me through this place
So I may enter into His embrace
And gaze upon His awesome face
And peer into those deep green eyes
The eyes of my Love and my Friend
Within them the joy it never does end
At least so I am told
I have come on this pilgrimage to be so bold
As to find out for myself
I want to know just for myself
If He is all He is said to be
If He is the One Who can set me free
From all of this fear and all of this indifference
And here I stand face to face
With those very things
Surrounding me, speaking to me,
Drawing nearer and nearer
The surroundings are dark and could never be clearer
This is the place for the Springs to arise
This is the place to look into His eyes
I sit and I wait for Him to arrive
And enjoy the sounds of the water beginning to rise

K. Duane Carter 6-4-09

Reality

Reality

I am tired of seeing with these eyes
I am tired of listening with these ears
I am tired of rationalizing with this mind
And coming up empty, wrong and paralyzed
I long to live by the Spirit and in the Spirit
Rise up within me O One that raises the One from the dead
Rise up within me and bring me into the true Life
The life where I know what You say
Not why You say it, not caring why You say it
But simply that You do
Simply that You are
Simply You are Love and Light
And in You is no darkness at all
Let the life within me be Light
And only Light
For I am tired of seeing with these blind eyes
I want to see with the ones You have given me to see with
I want to hear with the ears You gave me to hear with
The ones that are truly me and not what others see
I want to see with Your ears and hear with Your eyes
I want to gaze into the beauty of Your face, forever mesmerized
Let the life within me be Light
Let the light within me be Life
For nothing else matters
Nothing else matters
Nothing else
Nothing

K. Duane Carter
11-26-08

God’s purpose is not to give me answers. God’s purpose is to give me wonder and mystery. God’s purpose is to reveal the One that should be truly worshipped and worship is a response to His wonder, not to mere reasons. But if I constantly seek the reasons and the answers, then He cannot trust me with the deeper wonders because I am too busy asking “Why?” and “What is the meaning of this?” to just sit and listen and dream. I must take the path of childlike trust to enter into His kingdom. Often I will lead my children into places that they don’t understand why we are going there, but they simply follow and they typically enjoy the trip. God please grow in me the childlike wonder. Please restore to me my childhood innocence, my childhood wonder, my child-like trust. I see that You are already doing that. Thank You for Your answers to my prayers, even those where I don’t understand or see the answer. May I be truly loyal and truly trustworthy to share in Your mysteries and wonders.