For Us - Red

The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp.  And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.  Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.  For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.  And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

Hebrews 13:11-15

Every week, a very large group of writers take a prompt and write for five minutes - no time for editing, no time to really think it through, no time for polishing.  Just write.  For five minutes.  This week's prompt was "Red".   I'm afraid my word-thought associations came out a little (?) on the dark side.  But it is what it is.  Psychologists, beware!

For Us - Red

Red 

... like the rubbery beard of a rooster, folded and wrinkled,

... like that band beneath the clouds, holding up the last sunset of summer

... like Miley's lips, singing obscenity on a stage full of lost childhood

... like the balloon floating above the gray city 

... like a 1950's corvette and Elvis, petticoats and square dancing

... like anger bubbling up through veins of lava, volcano of emotion 

... like that checkerboard tablecloth laid on the table of my childhood memory

... like the lips of a princess in a fairytale, too beautiful for her own good

... like the stripes on the American flag, straight and narrow, cushioning a field of blue

Red ... like the very real blood of Jesus, beading from thorns, seeping from the lashes, dripping from nails, pumping from the heart

The heart of God.

For us.

Red.

Dear God, I don't like to be reminded of the very real pain that Jesus suffered for us - for me - but I need to be.  It's not all cotton candy and roses, after all, and what he did, what he did for me, is beyond amazing.  Grace is not just a simple word.  I don't deserve the gift He gave.  But I want to.  Help me to live for you.  All the time.  In Jesus's name I pray.  Amen.

Linking with Five Minute Friday