city grit

since i've spent the last year & a half journaling everyday, i've been able to go back to see what i was doing a year, a month, a week ago (see my reflection of my year in dublin here). it's been interesting to compare, reminisce & reflect.

as i looked back today, i found a great entry. it's a beautiful one about dublin & cities. much like my blog entry about city life, this journal entry speaks of the contrast found in cities. as i read it, i marveled at my own words, it's like it wasn't me who wrote it. so here it is...

feb. 4, 2014 ~10pm on bus 16
the more i get to know this city, the further i fall for it. the more familiar it becomes the deeper my ache.  its nooks & crannies, its quirkiness, its age, its beauty, its ugliness, its rejection, its life, its death. how crazy it makes me. how it scares me. how it enlightens me. how it's growing me. how it pries into me like a screw at the end of a drill. its sly ways of pulling you in & spatting you out at any given time. the way it uses you, abuses you & overwhelms you. how it lures you in to its cracks & holes only to force you to find a way out, not only for yourself but for every other captive as well. how it makes you want to dream beautiful dreams yet at times, it pulls the plug. the possibilities are endless but the striving seems pointless. it has two main groups of prisoners: those oppressed by success/greed/power & those oppressed by failure/poverty/helplessness. very few people escape capture. this place serves these things on a silver dish or on bin lids. life sucks in life. death creates more death. BUT...

oh, to the ONE who fills the holes, heals the wounds, cares for the needs & is always good. praise to Him who dwells with us. who gave up all He had for us. to set us free. to lift the burdens. to carry the weight. to bear the cross. to pay our debt. to give us HOPE! to show true & good LOVE! may we find Him!

found near the river liffey on the south side of dublin