Nothing But Net
by Michael Doyle

Living through drift with deference
We each live Beethoven's experience
Coming out from every defeat
We stretch our defenses as we greet

All that life gives to us
Facing each day and just because
A preacher's kid knows the shift of anxiety
Everyone's life has its complexity

The pendulum swings and rocks
Wherever our feet know their walk
Life lived without any blame
There's a lifeline found in every game

Never outgrowing our sense of appreciation
Each day to be lived out in fascination
To be our best without instigation
A sideline incidental of our imagination

The playgrounds of every big city
Have iconic memories however gritty
It's a palmed experience pressing in
When our mind floods as feelings descend

Yet fired up in our living celebration
Filled with our spirits' initiation
Full court expressed with no regret
Living life with nothing but net

Faith circles in all of our society
Filled with process in its sincerity
Teachers come to us with their theology
While only the elect stand in divinity

The blessings had are lived in the good
The needs filled in moments understood
A space that's hard forms us in our tears
Knowing the best of life through our living years

The best of life comes with a racing heart
Seated next to the spirit that won't depart
As the author of life offers the brilliance
Of a journey given with full resilience

Second chances come off our worst defeats
Turned over as we hustle quickly on our feet
Given points replicate into our private crosses
But the defense needed prevents our losses

The victories that come are found on the run
With the next game begun before the last is done
Beyond our comfort comes what is relevant
Is pushing on in our deepest sense of development

Buoyant egos require humility if only to surpass
And get to the deep end of what will last
We need to stretch ourselves as we land deep
No matter how broken we are in the tears we weep

Sunken then in the wide moments of our despair
No longer holding regardless of how we prepare
The fabric of our life ripped beyond its holding
Until held by the God of all greatness unfolding

Taken at Jesus's word, we will surely follow
Seeing past circumstances in all light and shadow
Seeking the all that we finally need to know
Wherever the journey leads, we know that we must go

Sometimes without knowing we tend to add things on
And that's how it is that we move on and on
To all the best that is put to their bitter test
As fishers of men, we have finally become the nets

Feeling claustrophobic in the midst of open space
We turn and peer into our God's loving face
Stepping with confidence into all that's relevance
Happiness for all others is found in its prevalence

Repentance in the name of Jesus is all this simple
The promises given in the distance don't need a temple
Simply put the acceptance of this essence of holy word
Is nothing but net as given in all that is inferred

People reading people in fullness and grace
Are taken as we are in our time and our own space
With a silent swish we've found nothing and yet
It's filled with holy love and nothing but net

(c) March 12, 2023   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved