Matthew Liam Gardner

Often

the most memorable

journeys of remembering

and transformation

that have claimed me over my lifetime

aren’t ‘new’ to me...

It’s not like I haven’t done that ‘thing’ before

Its not like the idea or the process is a first-time revelation...

Its not like I haven’t visited that piece of creation before...

or walked that same path a few dozen times already.

What makes it different

what makes it memorable

what has it contact and reform

the very fabric of my being

and refine the trajectory of my life...

Is that on those occasions

I was able to bring myself to the journey

in a fuller way...

there was more of me in it.

I didn’t just have skin in the game

I was IN with flesh and bone and marrow

and spit and teeth...

All in on the moment...

fully given.

I didn’t just set the altar...

I put myself on it.

I walked the same steps

with the same feet

but now with a prayer

inscribed on my soles...

and when I got to the fire

I didn’t just warm my hands

I threw myself into the flames.

~ Matthew Liam Gardner