The Thing Which Holds You

It's like it holds onto you, grabs hold and never let's go...a skin that is not your own, and yet you cannot shed it. It becomes a part of you, an enemy within your own soul. No matter how hard you try to separate yourself from it, it is relentless. You run as fast and as far away from home as you can, only to find yourself a hundred miles away from a warm fire and your family, and no further away from the thing which holds you.

It is black, dark, evil, overbearing, taking over every fiber of your being, invading your most personal and innermost thoughts, leaving no stone unturned. It destroys what you once knew to be true and replaces your world with ceramic figures, easily shattered and difficult to repair. It's path of destruction is obvious and leaves nothing but bitterness, confusion, sadness, and lostness. It is the worst feeling in the world to know that you cannot get away from it, to escape it no matter how much you want to. This evil driving force has a name...sin.

And then, one day, you wake up and see the sun. You realize that the trees no longer seem gray and dead, but vibrant and alive. You hear the bird's song anew and know that everything will be ok. Why do you know that? Where does that feeling of reassurance come from? Maybe the sun, maybe yourself. But why is it now that you can feel alive again? What did the sun do to make your world better, or even, what did you do?

No...it has to be something more. Something bigger out there than what you or this world has to offer. And then you smile as you think of what all this means. You finally have hope and peace again, still acknowledging that the road will be tough, and yet no longer having to feel that unending sense of despair...you have let go of the thing which holds you.