Well. It has been a hot minute since I have posted anything (yes, I said hot minute. Showing my age. Get over it lol.) Considering the rather melancholy note on which I left this blog inactive (see this post for reference), it is quite fitting that I should come back today with a remarkably positive spirit. A bit of inspiration was sparked from someone very dear to me. We were discussing hope, love and just sharing life through a conversation when she said something that gave me such pause that I stopped to not only remark on how beautiful I thought it was, but also that I felt I had heard it somewhere.
Thirty years. It’s how long I’ve been on this earth.
What do you do when you look back at the slow crash of your life? To go back through the memories, see who you once were (genuine, kind, passionate) and watch the slow fall from grace into anger and hate? To see the lives you once touched for good having been affected so strongly by the life you chose to live? The choices you’ve made?
Kids: they change everything, don’t they? As they grow, you can see every bit of yourself and your spouse in their little faces. While their minds develop, you’ll see the good and the bad (we lovingly have dubbed it the “obnoxious little mirror syndrome”), in ways that can be very difficult to witness. The gravity of that reflection should build up a certain level of sobering reality. Those children, while each and every bit their own person, are also moldable. What takes shape will vary wildly depending on how you and I should elect to raise them up.
Out of darkness, into marvelous light. You’ll read that phrase multiple times in the coming paragraphs, and it is and will be a common theme on this site. From deep and meaningful posts to intricate and passionate fiction: all for the glory of the God that rescued me! Out of darkness, into marvelous light. That resonates within my spirit, bounces around the inside of my home, echoes across the yard… Out of darkness, into marvelous light! It’s the true Gospel message, one that is starting to break out in a world that so desperately needs to hear it. Seriously, we live in one divided, divisive, lost, confused and outright broken world. I’m here to bring light in all aspects of life, especially with this blog as a place of refuge, passion and hope!
Look, I think that it’s safe to say we have all noticed how divisive our culture is at present. Note that I said divisive, not divided. We like to argue. We say things on social media that most would never dare utter out loud, let alone in public. Heaven forbid we actually mean what we say and say what we mean…
**WARNING: THE CHAPTER ENTITLED “CONSEQUENCES” AND ALL THE CONTENT THERIN IS INTENDED FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY, AS IT CONTAINS INSTANCES OF HEAVY VIOLENCE WITH DEPICTIONS OF BLOOD, DEATH, AND PTSD INDUCED VIOLENT BEHAVIOR.**
Consequences
Just having extraordinary abilities was only the tip of the iceberg that weighed so heavily on the shoulders of young Clark Kent. Ever since he had really come to understand how different he was, he’d felt the constant pressure of possibly being found out by his friends, or worse, his enemies. Granted, for an 18 year old on the verge of completing high school, his only real enemy was the ever-so-popular Whitney Fordman. Not that Clark had a real reason to dislike Whitney (except for having Clark strung up in a corn field…). He was really just in the way of Lana.
Ah, Lana… Young, beautiful, and incredibly intelligent. At least, that’s how Clark saw her. The only girl for him, she was always at the forefront of his mind, and when he caught a glimpse of her that fateful day outside of the Talon, he couldn’t help but stare…
“Oof!”
Having been completely distracted, Clark had run right into the stiffly squared shoulders of his arch-nemesis: Whitney.
“Watch it, Kent!” Whitney growled.
“Sorry,” Clark told him, but he didn’t really mean it.
“If you’re going to apologize, it should be for staring at my girlfriend.”
“St-staring,” Clark stammered. He was very much put-off by Whitney’s brazen declaration. “I wasn’t… We’re just friends, Whitney.”
“I’m not blind, Clark. You lost your shot with her, remember? So back the hell off. Let’s not forget,” Whitney leaned in close. “I know your secret. All your secrets, Clark. And nothing, nothing you’ve done for me gives you the right to interfere with our relationship, so stay away if you’d like to keep that charming farm boy face in one piece.”
Dark, damp… Cold. Very cold. Chills ran down his spine… His? He looked down at his naked form and… Yes, certainly a male. But what was that, exactly? What… Where was he? Everything was so foreign, surroundings unfamiliar. What could be his purpose here?
“Don’t be alarmed, my son,” a calm, odd and somewhat gravelly voice rang out from behind him, and he whirled to see a tall man. He wore a black trench-coat over a crisp, white shirt with a tie, and his dark hair cascaded in waves to his shoulders.
D.M. Kurtz 