WHO I AM I am a flower quickly fading, here today and gone tomorrow, a wave tossed in the ocean, a vapor in the

wind I am Defined by my idiosyncrasies, my degree Justified by my achievements, my capacity Self-justification turns into self-satisfaction turns into self-glorification through a process of elimination where care for anybody else besides that of self is relegated, delegated, subordinated to that stack of to-do lists on the dusty bottom shelf I measure my status by the number of likes on my facebook status by the existence or rather non-existence of my relationship status by the ranking of my social status by every single scale of the status quo

I am burdened, carrying the weight of deadweight expectations, of perceived potential, of jumping from midterm to midterm, from paper to paper, from hurdles to hoops and then hoops to hurdles, forgetting the wonder of momentary suspension and the joy of leaping, and too weighed down to fly I am at a crossroads, a tension point, reaching a hypocritical horizontal hyperbola of sorts where resume meets references, humility masks hubris, generosity conceals greed, altruism is peeled away to reveal ass-holeism which is peeled away to reveal apathy which is peeled away to reveal a sickly, rotten oncebitten, forever condemned apple core My faith is often fashion fashioned by circumstance and condition, worn on occasion, discarded without hesitation, put on again for special situations, fading with every laundry cycle rotation I am hungry for more than momentary highs, pleasurable releases, and mindless consumption I am hopeless to save myself, to justify myself, to find myself I am searching fumbling like a rat around corners of a laboratory maze seeking cheesy meanings in changing the world and leaving a legacy ignorant to the greater reality blind to perspective, zooming in and out of focus, taking snapshots instead of panoramics wandering, wondering where I can find the path of grace

I am crying out Not because of who I am, but because of what youve done Not because of what Ive done, but because of who you are

You are Defined by omnipotent, omniscient presence Justified by the quality of eternal perfect pre-existence Your status is measured: by the ever-expanding 46 miles per second per megaparsecond universe by the 7145 miles distance flown in nine days without stopping of shorebirds aptly named godwits by the uncountable miles people will walk, run, and march for ideals, principles, morals greater than mere biological reactions

Your burden is light and your yoke is breezy, you provide for souls to take flight and rest easy You are a mysterious crossroads a master who gives free will to His servants bought at the price of death, a judge who balances total justice and total mercy, a God who took on the role of a humble man You dont believe in fashion only eternal style, always sweaters of argyle, never wavering for even a while, the promise at the end of the trial You are the bread of life satisfying those who ache for more, desire for less, and pray for peace You are the hope the thing with not only feathers but wings, priming for flight, the light of true sight You are the destination and the process, the result and the relationship, and the title and refrain of my favorite Miley Cyrus song its the climb And you told me who I am Three words: not those three words that have been commodified, canonized, pop-culturized flippantly flung around so many times they have lost their flavor But these three words that convey commitment not just claim, dedication not just declaration

And you told me who I am: I am yours