Let's write a love poem built out of plaster and garden gnomes
We'll staple it together with our memories of bad weather
And we'll fill it with our hopes and dreams
Between the two of us I think we've got enough so it'll be bursting at the seams
Cuz I've never met someone who's got such a sparkle of life in their eyes
And that's all it's gonna take to put the twinkle in mine
You shine like roses and smell like the stars
I mean whoops!  You've got me stumblin' over my own heart
What I meant to say is you're looking exceptionally pretty today
Not that you weren't pretty yesterday or the day before or that tomorrow you won't blow my mind...even more
You've got a wonderful smile and a fantastic laugh
But even better than that your mind shines like a thousand stars
And your soul beams like a billion rays of sunlight
It spills out so radiant from your eyes
And see that's where I get lost
That's when I get those moments of soaring through the skies
It's not when we lock lips it's when we lock looks and start to read each other like books
Our souls intertwining into a three strand rope
And that rope's been binding up my heart gettin' tighter since the start
Cuz see I've never believed in soul mates but you've got me second guessin'

Let's write a love story stitched out of pain and sorrows
Made of hardships and forgotten souls we borrowed
Let's fill it with joy and glue it together with God
Cuz if it's God's wind in these frail sails then this tiny ship will never fail
And when we reach land He'll help us blaze a trail
Take the long way round so we can bask in the sound
Of our harmonic voices remembering that love is all about the choices
But if we forget that we'll end up voiceless
Drifting further apart as we follow the other noises
And I don't want that I wanna keep makin' choices
Choices to pursue no other woman than you
Through and through that's all I wanna do
Cuz I've never believed in soul mates but you've got me second guessin'

Let's paint a picture of a beautiful rose
One that sits amidst the thorns and thistles
Yet despite all that it flowered and flourished to its fullest potential
Slowly but surely unfolding each and every petal
Exposing all our darkest secrets as we hammer out these hearts of metal
And let these roots grow deeper and thicker in the soil
Remembering that love is all about the choices
And even if we lose our voices we've got our gazes
And when the haze is strong we'll listen to our favorite love song
And if we lose our hearing we'll just hold each other tight
Breathe each others breath all through the night
The rose'll get redder and the stalk'll get thicker as our hearts flicker into one, unified thrum like the beat of a drum and, 'you can wrap your fingers 'round my thumb'

Cuz I've never believed in soul mates but you've got me second guessin'

Space is a most peculiar place.  Mostly because a lot of it is just that—space:  A whole lot of not-a-lot.  Granted, it is far more than just nothing, for any fool could glance up on a clear night and tell that there's quite a bit going on up there.  But the problem with it being, “up there” is that we can't really get to it just yet, despite the fact that we'd really, really like to.  
We'd like to learn a lot about how little of not-a-lot of activity is actually happening in the eerily quiet universe, but so far everywhere we've gone it appears we've been the only ones who've gone there.  This proves one of two things: either we really ARE the only ones looking out into space thinking, “So where're the others?” (which unfortunately may prove us to be absolute lunatics) or that if there are other chaps out there, they really don't seem too concerned with meeting their neighbors.
Regardless of whether or not there is a lot going on in the not-a-lot around us, there is certainly a lot going on in the tiny little dot we've got called, 'earth'.  At first glance one might say it's a whole lot of nothing, and at second glance—if one is rather intuitive—one might say the exact same thing.  Yet on a third glance—if one is a rare form of intuitive—one might say it appears as though we are doing an awful lot of searching.  
Like a tumultuous yet well-oiled machine hurtling through the galaxy on a relatively small rock at disconcerting speeds, the human race is seemingly trapped in a perpetual scramble to find something.  The only problem is that we're not really sure what exactly it is we're looking for.  That's not to say we're completely clueless; this thing does have a name, and a select few of us have had glimpses of it from time to time.  It is not so much the question of, 'what' this thing is as it is the elusive content which makes up the very nature of this thing.  We haven't got much of a clue as to how to find or create it, and yet the moment we come across it, we recognize it.  We know it.  It feels oddly familiar and perfect, and somehow we know in the deepest recesses of our search-weary souls that it is exactly what we need.  Even if it lasts no more than a few seconds, that recognition and experience is enough.  
We are hooked.  Mesmerized.  Breathless.  Addicted.
Our entire being screams at us that, “That” was what we've been looking for, and that it's all we need, and we need to spend the rest of our lives dedicated to finding that.  
And so we do.  We stretch and strain and scramble and scream and shoot and shout and sip and slop and slap and scribble and serenade and sniffle and sing our hearts to shreds as we desperately seek out the fleeting feeling so many have come to know as, “love”.
We are destitute.  We are distraught.  We are banking our entire existence on finding that which we know little to nothing about.  We have paradoxically fallen in love with the pursuit of love.  Some of us **** for it.  Some steal for it.  Some give all they own for it.  Others think to have found it, and proclaim so to the rest of us in hopes that some will agree and validate their ridiculous theories.  Some find it in others.  Some find it in money.  Some find it in themselves.  
Four letters, and an unfathomable cavalcade of implications.  We see others experiencing it.  We remember the times we've felt it.  We long for times to feel it again.  We believe in it.  We wish it was alive and searching for us as hard as we are.  He is.

I've seen them all disappear

All my friends givin' away their lives to ***, drugs, and beer.

There's a lack of reason for hope in their lives and yet still

Something within them thrives.

They've made the choice to quell God's voice while I strive so very hard to hear and to listen and yet still!

All I feel is lost and confused it's like all my strength is used and my trust abused

I feel like a sailor on a ship lost at sea with nothing left but a knife and some T3's

I'm trying so very hard to follow God's calling but you see it's VERY HARD when He's the only one calling

No place to stay except a place that wants to send you away or lead you astray

Make a choice make a choice they cry and I reply can't you hear God's voice and all I get is well that's not practical

So now I find myself in an ever shrinking bubble trying to avoid trouble but it's OH SO HARD when He's the only one calling!

All I can think about is the people who've left and gone astray, taking their own path saying Hey this must be the way!

They're only living for them self and God sits in the bible on their shelf waiting

While His desires grow dusty and cold in the darkest recesses of their mind my

Oh my.

I really do not want that to be me cuz as far as I can see Jesus said COME, FOLLOW ME and a fully alive disciple is all I want to be.

I used to struggle with the verse about hating your own family but I've come to learn that I really hate, what they want for me to be successful safe and happy.

I don't understand where all this depression is coming from!!

But one thing I understand is that it's hard to live in this land and follow God's calling, when He's the only one calling.

I want to remain faithful, but then my old friend Mr. doubt comes along and rears his head.

His favorite time to come around is late at night when I'm trying to go to bed.

He says I have been led astray and Jesus is not the only way

And I always say you're right, He's not.

BUT THE REST ARE LIES and as Jon Foreman oh so graciously said, "the water keeps on fallin' from my eyes"

I've read all the verses about God's provision and how He gives gifts to those who keep His kingdom the number one priority in aaaall of their decisions But honestly in this small town it's hard to make a livin'...and still feel like you're livin'.

All this doubt and worry hurts cuz the devil often flirts with my imagination shouting WHAT IF YOU FAIL or WHAT IF YOU'RE WRONG or what if you don't even have the words to finish this song?

See I wish I could do all things through Christ who strengthens me but in all honesty lately it hasn't felt like He's been doing anything for me.

But I still suppose that Christ has much more than a plan for me.

It's just that sometimes it's really hard to see.

Cuz it's really hard to follow God's calling when He's the only one calling me.

Where is Jesus amidst all of this religious business?

Where is the person we are supposed to be falling in love with?

Where is the God-man when we put on a show by lifting our hands?

Where is the King when our favorite songs we sing?

Why do we call Him Lord if every time we talk about Him we get bored?

Where is the master when we worship our pastor?

Where is our heart for the broken, lost, and defeated?

Where is jesus amidst all of this religious business?

The focus is not always quite clear

Sometimes clouded by drugs, fights, and beer

Sometimes clouded by death, defeat, and fear

Sometimes clouded by ambition

Sometimes clouded by success

I often forget that You must become greater and I must become less

This is not a game

This is not just some test

This is a question of righteousness

And as with all things between You and I, my Lord

There is no comparison

I stand before You in Your presence like a sack of ***** linens

"My God, My God!" I cry

I am trapped and chained in my pit of sin

I know I cannot win

For even my works are as filthy rags in the presence of the King

What then shall I say to thee?

"Oh look, Lord!  See how I fed the poor and hungry?"

"See how I tithed, Lord?  How I gave ever so generously?"

My God, my God will ask ever so quietly

"Child, did you ever even know Me?"

Everything fades.  Nothing Stays.

Why then do I worry about my ways?

What drives me to think?

To feel?

To care?

What is it within my being that screams, "Meaning!" when everyone else around me shouts, "Meaningless!"

What is it about the stars that makes them so beautiful and majestic?

What about the night sky so captivates the human eye?

Where is the beauty in the trees, the grass, the fields, and the leaves?

What is it in the imperfection that somehow screams, "Perfection!"

No single snowflake like another, yet we continuously try to copy each other.

There is a message hidden in the world we live in.

It is written in the hearts and minds of men

Carved in the stones of the earth

Engraved in the trees of the forests

Splayed across the grass of the fields

and painted in the sunsets, sunrises, and moonlit skies.

It is sung by the birds of the sky

Brayed by donkeys in the pasture

Roared by the lions of africa

and howled by monkeys in the jungle

It rumbles in the deep of the ocean

Whispers in the winds of the tundra

and bellows from the tops of the highest mountains

It is thunder

It is lightning

It is the driving rain

It is the calm after the storm

It is every moving, living, breathing, sighing, crying, lying, weeping, wailing, inhaling, exhaling, flailing, waving, craving, growing, slowing, dying, trying thing on this little spherical home

It resonates from mountain top to mountain top

ocean to ocean

shore to shore

and sea to shining sea

It is the song inside us that persistently sings, "meaning!"

It is the one thing that stays when all else fades

It is the voice that whispers, "Child, you are loved"

Will my heart ever know contentment?

Will my soul ever really be still?

Will my desire ever really be completely and fully to love as my God loves?

Will I ever know more than the constant struggle against evil?

Will I ever meet those who truly desire the truth?

Will I wallow in self-pity, resentment, and an obnoxious desire to gain knowledge?

Will I desire love, gentleness, kindness, self-control?

Will I live in the moment, and not be lost in hopeful dreams of tomorrow?

Will I commit to what has been put before me, or will I selfishly wish for a situation which I deem better?

Will I follow the steps of the one I call Lord, or will I simply make Him a feel-good-friend?

Will I live by faith, or live by security?

Will I seek out equality as opposed to prosperity?

Will I look for those who are lost, and offer them a way to be found?

Will I live a quiet life, without ever making a sound?

Will I treat my God with reverence, or have I already lost respect?

Will I listen to the cries of the broken?

Will I answer their desperate call?

Will I give up my life to live for others?

Will my desires matter to me at all?

Will I make the sacrifices a disciple must make, or will I allow myself to fall?

Will I live my life the way I hope to live it?

Will I live by God's commands?

Will I seek to blot out injustice, and offer deliverance to all?

Will my cry be to destroy the wicked, or to save the broken?

Will I reach out my arms to the hurting?

Will I embrace the crack addicts, prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers, and warlords, as though they mattered to me most of all?

Will they matter to me at all?

Will my heart break for the millions trapped in slavery?

Will I answer their desperate call?

Will tears fall when I hear of death, pain, and destruction?

Will I react at all?

Will my heart move when I hear that faint call?

If not, I would rather not live at all.