Walls Fall Down

Class is now in session.

I'm in the back row, as usual. Everyone is here for this one final day. We've been writing for weeks, and now all that work comes to fruition.

But it's not the triumph we all expected. The excerpts we're sharing are just that: excerpts, pieces, fragments of stories and memories that will never do the voices in our minds justice. We do our best to get what's in our heads out on paper, but you can't share the adventure of a lifetime in five minutes. Two pages isn't enough to space build a universe. Hollow words on a white page can't express the depth and darkness of a memory.

Each piece we read today is one side, one facet, of the people we've been working with for the last two weeks. We've been together for hours, silently sitting side by side. Now the walls fall down. Now, for the first time, we see each other. We see the vast imagination and curiosity of the quiet boy in the back of class with me, bringing out the world he's brought to life. We see the beautifully cruel interplay of love and hate in the older woman in the corner by the instructor's desk, strong even in the face of pain. We see the dreams and desires of the girl up front, brimming with ambition and confidence.

And I wonder to myself: when I share my newly crafted world, what will people see in me?

Song for today: Glass House by Red. These guys get to the heart of the Christian experience, and I love how they can write songs that appeal to anyone, whether Christian or not. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlB592l8SZ4

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.