I am a needy pilgrim on this journey
Flaw-filled
Rendered incapacitated by life’s blows
I don’t know how I sing
Or whether the tune is cathartic
Or superficial
Or everything and nothing all at once
I am aging
I see the lines
Watch how the contours of my form
Shapeshift into an older woman
The kind of person a clerk says “ma’am” to

But others have seen Jesus
Living inside my aging heart
They’ve seen His brilliance
His cacophonous light
I lift my own tired hands to the ceiling
Hoping the heavens take note
And praise the One who does it all

It’s a mystery why others see Him
Housed in this Mary home
But I love Him for it
For shining through my cracked parts
For healing such broken, torn, slashed hopes

He is the splendor
The benevolent, powerful healer
And it’s my sincere prayer
That as I near heaven’s gate
There will be more of Him
and little remnants of a surrendered me left

Shine all the more, Jesus
Be the majesty and beauty of my life.