ann kiemel

truth.
clean and beautiful and free.
speak the truth and the walls will still
stand strong. and friends can always be
friends. nothing hidden. or secret. no
hurt gnawing and boiling inside.

truth.
spoken in love.
it cannot fail. will not corrupt.
brings deliverance and freedom.
it takes courage and strength to deliver
it. and not every truth needs to be laid out
in the open for all to see. usually, it is between
two people. confiding. working through.

when Jesus talks about coming to the altar
to bring our offerings...and if we have something
against another, we must first go and make peace,
and then return to His Presence. i have always believed
that He meant we are to confess. to speak the
truth of what is setting us apart. tearing down our
once sturdy hearts of oneness and deep, pulsing
love and trust.

truth is always beautiful
even if it hurts, and makes us cry.
even if it exposes pieces of ourselves that
we have always hoped no one would notice.
or shows us things we never realized about
ourselves that aren't nice. or proper. or fair.

the truth often terrifies me. looking someone in
the eye after he/she has asked me a question
that i know has an answer she won't like. truth
can make me afraid of rejection, and i have always
feared that above all else.

but i feel safest with truthful people.
i know our bond will last. we will be able
to run side-by-side up the mountains and around
the crooked corners of life. the enemy cannot
sneak in and curl up, at first unnoticed, where
truth lives. the two cannot co-exist. ever.

please hold my hand,
and join me in the struggle for truth.
with ourselves. our children. our friends. the world.
but never forget that truth without the kindness of love
will tear apart even as a lie does.

"Lord Jesus, i long to be perfectly whole.
i want Thee forever to live in my soul.
break down every idol. cast out every foe.
now wash me and i will be whiter than snow."