The Great Enemy

At church, we recently finished up a study on spiritual warfare.  It was a great study that is very relevant and useful for our lives today.  As the study was coming to a close, I was reminded of a poem I had written not very long before.  This is it.

I am the monster in your closet.
I'm the thing under your bed;
      your doubts, your fears,
             your unbelief,
I'm everything you dread.
I'm gravity, pulling down.
I am the undertow,
       grabbing on, holding tight
              and never letting go.
I'm the bully.
I'm the psycho.
       The beast, the dark, the wine.
I'm suspicion.
I am hatred
        breathing cold chills up your spine.
I'm the chasm of despair.
I am the great abyss.
        The nothing, the nightmare,
               death's deep and darkest kiss.
I am the first deceiver,
        the traitor, the funeral pyre.
I'm winter's killing frost.
I am the original liar.
I am beauty's great imposter.
I sing the sirens' song.
I'm distraction, greed, corruption.
I confuse what's right and wrong.
I'm the dragon, breathing fire,
        that haunts you in your sleep.
I'm inhuman and unnatural
        and I'm laughing as you weep.

"Stay alert!  Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.  He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour." 
1 Peter 5:8

I'm Baaack!

Okay people.  I know I have been away for a while. For those of you who don't know, I have been doing some transcription to make extra money.  This has caused me to spend less time on the computer doing things I love (i.e. writing, Pinterest : ], etc.) because my body and eyes don't like me to stay on the computer for hours and hours on end.  But, I have decided that I need to set myself some goals.  After watching Julie and Julia (again) I see how much I am like Julie in that I have a hard time finishing anything.  So, beginning the last week in August, I will challenge myself to write EVERY DAY until my daughter comes home from college for the following summer.  Every day I will write something.  Write anything.  And then blog about what I wrote or blog WHAT I wrote.  (Hopefully these pages will not be silent between now and August.  I plan for it to be a time to gear up and practice writing more often.)  These upcoming entries may range from what I think about something going on in the world to a poem to thoughts about (or excerpts from) the book I have been working on for the past seven or so years.  Once in a while, I warn you, I will probably write about something that is going on in my life personally.  For me, writing has always been a form of therapy.  I have never really been able to keep a journal in the sense that you sit down every day, reflect and write.  I write emotionally - like some people eat emotionally.  I do my best writing when I am down.  That is not to say that everything I write is (or will be) depressing.  That is what is so therapeutic about it!  Usually, it helps all the junk to flow out so that I can have a fresh perspective, which ends up reminding me how much I have to be grateful for.  So the question that is currently rattling around in my head is this:  "Why in the heck do I think that anyone cares what I think?".  I don't know if I will gain any more followers along this journey in the coming months or if anyone will read anything I write at all.  Of course I hope to provoke some deep thinking and occasionally make someone laugh, but the real reason I am doing this is for myself.  So, reader, whether you are there or not, whether you return or not, I will continue to write...because I love it.