All I Need

The Revealing of a Man

Look up close
examine every part
draw near, pull back, and don't gloss over
Forget and you might miss
miss the wonder-beauty trapped within
the potential draped in rough.

Take time to wonder at creation
something yet untapped
but trying hard to surface
don't discard the shrouded rock
it's yet to be a David.
A diamond in the rough.

See the forest for the trees
as much as for the sapling
And love fellow man just as Christ
beyond what seems so plain.

So look up close to catch the treasure
then take a large step back
sit back and watch God's handiwork
the revealing of a man.

Emily Bergstrom
August 29, 2015

The Burdened Ones

“The Burdened One”

by Emily Bergstrom

They go on with smiling face,

thinking all is well,

for I can walk and step in grace.

Who can fear what’s known and good?

As long as they are unaware,

and I remain,

if I walk with care –

all will be fine, no smiles chased.

But if I walk the untrod road,

and something new wells up and out?

If I cannot bear my heavy load?

Then who is to say what will come?

For kindness is bread for the burdened one.

Without their bread, they shrivel,

like grapes beneath the sun

So, “keep all the same, don’t smile, don’t frown!”

Don’t tip the apple cart.

Truth is death for the burdened one.

March 25, 2014

Don't be discouraged by mood in poetry. I believe that sometimes bringing a feeling out gives the opportunity to address the solution. 

This poem is something I wrote in light of a personal struggle of my own. I have never liked sharing my burdens with others. It's embarrassing and strange - even awkward. No one wants to be the complainer or the martyr. And even more importantly, no one wants their dirty laundry potentially shared beyond a confidence. My own worst fear is that I don't want anyone's opinion of me to change. 

Sometimes I find the will to share the burdens I carry, but I'm fairly certain whatever I say still comes out in an awkward way. Maybe no one else notices, but that's the way I perceive myself. 

Still, God created us as a body, to live together in community and support one another. 

Recently, I have started reading the book of Ecclesiastes. and while I'm certain you might have heard the verses before, it speaks very well to the purpose of seeking community with other Christians and surrounding ourselves with the support system God has so wonderfully put into place for us. 

 "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12

Bookmark

If memory lane and days gone by
are places to be found,
then what if life per se might be
a book of life unbound?

Flipping back are days gone by;
forward are things to come.
But dreams are the ones that matter,
and I'd like to think that I'm your bookmark

Emily Bergstrom
2/7/2013

have you ever considered what your life might look like in terms of a story? Only just recently, I started to. Maybe its because I'm a storyteller and that worldview just comes so naturally. But think about it... consider the turning points in your life and the place you hope to be someday. consider your obstacles and how they have shaped you. That's the way a story works, right?

Regardless of how boring your life might be, you've experienced life. You've met important people. You've had dreams and desires. Well, your life story is the path your take to either achieve that dream, or set it aside and set a new one into motion.

To me, I'm in a bit of awe to know that God already sees those future moments and turning points. He sees if it all works out in the end.

One of my biggest struggles is worrying. I always consider my dreams and all of the things standing my my way. It makes me nervous and panicked... not a happy way to live life, by the way. But when I consider that God is orchestrating a story, and I consider how far he has already brought me, I begin to understand that my dreams are not my own, but His. And if my dreams are his and he has promised to be the giver of good gifts, then can't I trust that my story with end with a "Happily Ever After"? Those are my favorite kind of endings, if you didn't know. Reading books that end with tragedy or death always bothered me. I think its because those kinds of endings are so opposed to what God has in store for us.

So... will you do life with me? Be apart of my story? Be one of my bookmarks, those pages that I turn back to and reread over and over again because they were turning points that inspire me to trust that the future with be just as promising?

what if life per se might be, a book of life unbound?

Strong

It's hard, Father God
to stand on my own
and though I have tried to keep strong all alone
I find that in you
only you can atone

Sin is a weight
it bears down on the son
and weak he becomes, no victory won
and on his knees does he fall
completely undone

So rise up and claim
the strength offered you
and give praise to the one who sees you through
for only with him
can we all things do

Emily Bergstrom
Sept. 22, 2013