Walla Walla University

Feb 14

“Dandelions
Why try?
This body will surely die.
If this life has the meaning of a dandelion:
To grow, to take winds beatings,
Fall and be stepped on,
And then frozen by a heartless cold snow,
Surely you would miss the flower’s blossom,
The breaking the surface to breathe God’s fresh air,
The tickle of the sun in the spring of May,
The bustling bees with their honey flow
The tireless ants working below,
And being blown in the wind by that child,
That child who made his dreams and became
What you are today.
I say for you the doubting Thomas,
Too fearful to act on conviction,
For the misguided, unsure, questioning,
Hoping, crying, breaking, swelling, and wanting.
For this here, this means far than a dash
between two soon to be forgotten numbers.
‘Twas a gift to be cherished,
Not meant to be taken as careless.
Life is more than just some bore
With no value that can be bought in a store.
‘Twas given through death so we might rise again.
As such, do not strive to be better than they,
Stronger than Hercules in the fray,
Faster than Bolt’s nine foot stride,
Ruthless as Armstrong’s unforgiving pride,
Smarter than that four point student,
Who forgets that after texts fade away,
What is important is not his brain but those
lives his intellect has sufficiently served.
Strive to be you, exactly as you were meant to be.
See I am not you and you not me and we come not from the same family, You might beat me at your game and gain fame to your name,
Maybe even steal my voice’s right to proclaim,
But I believe in this thing called chivalry.
Strive to be the best you can,
God’s humble servant, a man.
Weakness may encompass,
But doubt not the reach of His hand’s circumference,
His holy hands heal our hurting hearts.
He watches, guides, and whispers in that quiet place. Don’t hide your scarred face.
He sees in and breaks free the seeking, the broken. Word of his deliverance has been spoken,
For that you can stand certain,
With hope to someday feel His embrace.
Pierced, raw, and amiss memories strain,
Recalling countless pains,
That time you fell down stairs from these untied laces, Hoping to be noticed by more forgiving faces.
Those helpless eyes you lacked strength to encourage, That girl who no more returns your letters of postage. That wound in your friendship left not mended, Unrelenting, Lucifer’s course leaves you helpless.
In the fog under this street light,
With fingers frail and fear’s bite,
Step into the dark abyss.
Not seeing a path, hearing a friend,
Or feeling a guiding hand.
May seem a hopeless road untraveled,
But wait for that morning light.
Then, seeing His direction, pursue
That child’s joy that He will bring.
See still that dandelion dreams,
Waiting for you to find it.
Only one step is needed to start.
Take it.” — Howard Heaton