The Black Box
by Cindy Pollsen
Looming large and heavy:
You can't get away from it.
You creep around it,
But there is no way you're going in.
And then you sense God saying,
"Enter in, this is where I am.
Meet me in here."
No, no way, I can't go in there;
It hurts too much.
"Yes, yes, I know it will hurt,
But that's where I am--
In the hurt.
In your weakness my strength is made perfect."
You can't experience resurrection
Until you've died the death.
What is it you fear most?
What is in your black box?
For my friend, whose black box is named Depression,
It's the fear that the despair will be too great--
That she will drown in it.
For me, the black box is named Failure.
I am so afraid of trying trying trying and failing,
I have said, "I cannot fail."
But the thing is,
I will.
God seems to be saying,
"Look, the sooner you accept this,
the sooner you meet me in this box,
the sooner will you enter into my suffering
(yes, my suffering)
into my death
and then
You will rise with me
and failure will not be the end
Victory
That is the end
Me
I am the end
And I have won."
Looming large and heavy:
You can't get away from it.
You creep around it,
But there is no way you're going in.
And then you sense God saying,
"Enter in, this is where I am.
Meet me in here."
No, no way, I can't go in there;
It hurts too much.
"Yes, yes, I know it will hurt,
But that's where I am--
In the hurt.
In your weakness my strength is made perfect."
You can't experience resurrection
Until you've died the death.
What is it you fear most?
What is in your black box?
For my friend, whose black box is named Depression,
It's the fear that the despair will be too great--
That she will drown in it.
For me, the black box is named Failure.
I am so afraid of trying trying trying and failing,
I have said, "I cannot fail."
But the thing is,
I will.
God seems to be saying,
"Look, the sooner you accept this,
the sooner you meet me in this box,
the sooner will you enter into my suffering
(yes, my suffering)
into my death
and then
You will rise with me
and failure will not be the end
Victory
That is the end
Me
I am the end
And I have won."
