Rising Waters

iPhone photo. Taken during one of the biggest rain storms I have ever seen in Charleston.

I am under water. Flooded out. Sinking into the rising waters that are slowly inching their way up around me.

Some days, I feel like I have been here forever - ankle deep in rising waters. I never noticed it before. The waters rise so slowly sometimes, you just get used to wading around in them. Other times, the rains come in fast - like a hurricane leaving you with nothing to cling to except the overwhelming notion that you are here and the only choices are to sink or swim.

Sink or swim. Sink or swim. Sink or swim.

This is the soundtrack in my head right now. But I am not sure how to get to dry land. I only know how to swim. I don't know which direction to go. And I can't possibly carry this load with me. Something has to give. Some things have to go. Survival mode doesn't let you carry dead weight. It only lets you save yourself.

Thankfully, I am a strong swimmer. And prepared for the long haul ahead.

Soggy

Looking forward to drying out after these past few days. My yard is still under water and doesn't look great, but we are much better off than most folks in this city and state. My heart aches for those in Columbia. There is some serious flooding there. People are in real crisis all over the state.

This storm has reminded me of the fragile balance of life. We are at the mercy of so many things that even in the most solid circumstances, life as we know it could be ripped from our reality to something much worse.

I was lucky this time. Really lucky. And that's not something I take for granted. But at the same time, I am certain that things could change drastically for me somewhere else at any given moment. War. Financial ruin. Death. Natural Disaster. These are all things that can change the course of our lives in an instant. And no amount of planning, money or control can stop it.

So today, I move forward humbly with grace, gratitude and hope for some sunnier days ahead. For all of us.

After the Storm

After The Storm
Mumford and Sons
 

And after the storm,
I run and run as the rains come
And I look up, I look up,
on my knees and out of luck,
I look up.

Night has always pushed up day
You must know life to see decay
But I won't rot, I won't rot
Not this mind and not this heart,
I won't rot.

And I took you by the hand
And we stood tall,
And remembered our own land,
What we lived for.

There will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.

And now I cling to what I knew
I saw exactly what was true
But oh no more.
That's why I hold,
That's why I hold with all I have.
That's why I hold.

And I won't die alone and be left there.
Well I guess I'll just go home,
Oh God knows where.
Because death is just so full and man so small.
Well I'm scared of what's behind and what's before.

And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.

And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.