Crumbling

by Doug Bursch

I am comforted by the crumbling.
That this new development, with new marriages and new Starbucks,
It will crumble…gradually to me, quickly to God, it will cease to be new.

I am comforted by the fading.
That this new thing will eventually become old, old and tired, old and spent.
It will fade…we will look at the pictures and not understand why it mattered.

I am comforted by the confusion.
How it all seemed so certain, then suddenly it could no longer comfort us.
That which we knew…became something we could no longer understand.

The fearful man rallies the world, lamenting the decay.
He speaks of once great and now crumbling,
Once great but now fading,
Once great but now confusion, perpetual confusion.

I am comforted as kingdoms crumble.
I will wait for the dust to settle,
I will wait for the echoing laments to subside,
I will wait and find comfort in the Kingdom that stands.

The Kingdom that stands permanent,
The Kingdom that stands unafraid.
I am comforted in the beauty that has always been and always will remain,
Even within the crumbling.