on hiding in words

From the poem "House of Words," by Herbert Morris

"I, finder of refuge, maker of refuge,
in words, whose life, indeed, was spun of words,
spun and respun, spun once more, then respun,
a life which has itself become a refuge
(words, in a world bordered by blood, on one side,
by the tumult of passion on the other;
the thinness, yes, the thinness of one's life..."

I hide in words and abstractions. And I put barriers between myself and the living God by doing this. When I feel far from Him again, feel unforgiveable and give up on myself, I can look back and see that I've slipped into making Him an abstraction again, making Him a concept in a labelled jar on a shelf, or making Him a trunk full of baggage that is not really Him. I get tired and fireless when I follow a 'lifestyle' or a 'conceptual framework' or a discipline rather than following Jesus. Jesus is not an identity for me or a word for me to throw around like a common label. He is a Person. And He goes deeper than words. Really. Deeper than these words. Deeper than any catchy turn of phrase or dramatic sentence. He's REAL. What a relief to know there is actual purity in the universe. Pure intent, pure motives, pure honesty, pure communication, TOTAL purity. I think that's part of the definition of holiness.