ONCE UPON A DUSTY HEART

I am like dust.

Blown across the surface of what once was a nutrient garden.

Thorns of abuse and weeds of offense have uprooted the fruit planted so long ago.

When the wind howls,

I am but a tiny piece of existence, blown across what once was, with no roots to hold me down to the truth I once held close to my heart.

This garden is hard and cold and dry and barren.

Who would dwell here with a girl once clothed in worldly accolades —now naked?

I’ve studied all the Good Book’s words, and yet I’m still trapped in silence in this dungeon.

I wouldn’t wish these thorns even on the one who caused them.

But as I bide my time away from yesterdays I realize I don’t have space to hold onto all that shaped me.

My heart is not invincible, and I’ve realized good and evil can’t co-survive.

To live at peace, the shame must die.

Truth is: humanity is broken, and in the end will always let me down. The ones who hurt me are still accountable, but their thorns will only be uprooted once I let go.

I must dig up their roots to prove forgiveness is the better way. I’ll use the tools of patience and grace my Gardener brings.

Together we will clean and cultivate this ground, preparing it for seeds of peace. The fight for freedom begins with me inside my dusty heart.

And once my soil is again made new; the Gardener will come as He always has with seeds of redemption in His hands. And my weeded soul will one day bloom bright with blushing colours of healing and strength; lush green eternal identity brimming from the fruit of my heart.