The Magnetic Pull

- A fictional short story type poem -

The thing about curiosity is that it can kill the cat and the mouse it ate too. A great risk of sacrifice is at hand when one notices something peculiar, debating investigation. Not everyone will yield to His magnetic pull.

We are born with a natural desire to know, to learn, to seek, to be. We all want to know and be known. To have our every sense captivated and enhanced by something bigger than ourselves. This requires the demolishing of our established reputations, the continuous uprooting of our false foundations in order to see the truth.

Will you find Him?

Your destined quest is at hand.

Is it worth it?

A Message In A Bottle

- A fictional short story type poem -


"So, tell me about yourself."

And so she did.

..............................................

Texts are messages in a bottle, sent but never truly reciprocated--misunderstood feelings, confused intentions all made into a concoction of false community. Once sent away from shore she never knows if the paper will stay dry. If the bottle will stay confidential. If the cork will keep muted. If she will receive one in return. Will the chord get pulled, exposing her letter?

What is he trying to say?

"We live, in fact, in a world starved for solitude, silence, and private: and therefore starved for meditation and true friendship." - C.S. Lewis

The Cathedral and the Alarm Clocks

- A fictional short story type poem -

As the sunset reflects its beautiful last-minute goodbyes on my wallpaper, I am reminded of the old, abandoned cathedral out west that my grandfather always took us to explore. It's dark, dusty appearance sticks out in my mind when I close my eyes, as the clouds cover the last wave of sunbeam.

One glance out my window reveals my suppressed desire to discover it's every room, every crevice, uncovering each hidden memory of the time it was once loved. Every book, every hymnal that stands tall upon the bookshelf and behind every pew is frozen in time, no longer remembering it's very existence.

My balcony is a resting place where I find my solitude, but I must confess--even this can become a cacophony of loud clamor when one is used to it. This hamlet in which I reside is full of alarm clocks demanding the attention of its occupants. With each time comes new woes, and loss of brief companions. Where must we go when all is lost or missing?

Will we answer the alarm clocks?

Hopeful Ramblings

Brainstorming for another blog takes a long time, especially if one is tired. Admittedly, my fatigue is a direct result of my resistance to fall asleep at a reasonable time last night. You see, before I go to sleep I enjoy binge watching YouTube videos by my favorite YouTubers for about an hour. If I go to bed at 9:30pm, then I enable myself to have an hour and a half of YouTube. In doing this, I am making myself believe that I am going to sleep early, when in actuality I am not. I tend to stay up until 11:00pm, which is not the best for me, I know, but I just don’t seem to learn from this. If I turn everything off by 11:00pm and put my head on the pillow, I usually can’t fall asleep until another thirty minutes to an hour. This is a predicament. I need to turn everything off at a reasonable time (perhaps 9:00) so I can fall asleep earlier and not be so sleepy the next day.

What’s funny is that I am quite an ambitious person. Once school let out, I made it a practice to wake up at 6:00am just like a school morning and go to sleep at 9:00pm, just like a school night. This would enable me to keep my circadian rhythms (or my internal clock) the way they are during the school year so I wouldn’t have to readjust when my senior year starts. I had planned that during the day I would study the things I wanted to, then apply for jobs so hopefully I can put my paychecks into my college fund. After I took the SAT on June 4th, this elaborate plan crashed. Actually, it crashed the week after that when I realized the businesses I applied for work were not calling me back to hire me. Was this due to depression, or laziness? Hmm… Interesting question. I believe it was due to disappointment, rather, and then it turned into depression and anxiety. Thankfully, though, I have obtained a new outlook on life—or, at least, the season that I am in. Once school starts back up, my mind will be focused on my student career, college applications, and young adult responsibilities, since this is my senior year.

"The season that I am in."

This phrase echoes in my mind a realization I had earlier this month. It is that we tend to only see the circumstances at hand rather than the bigger picture. We are focused on the difficult terrain we are walking instead of looking over the horizon that brings hope. Life can bring some agonizing trials—believe me, I have walked that road plenty of times. In fact, I am there right now. We are all looking for hope, comfort, peace, and a shoulder to cry on. We are all frantically searching for ways to cope. When we pray, sometimes--or most of the time--it feels like we are not heard. We are walking in a dry place, and we are so thirsty for God, but listen. Listen for God's voice in the sermons, in the hymns, in the wind in the trees and the grass. We feel so alone that our fear is crippling and all we can do is cry out to God--just listen, and be still. He is there. He loves you. Find nourishment in His word, and earnestly pray.

One Sunday my pastor’s sermon was over Daniel 10, which records Daniel's encounter with an angel. The very first thing the angel says to him is, "Daniel, man greatly loved..." He told him that God values his life, values him personally, and loves him so deeply and perfectly, just in that one phrase. He assured Daniel that his prayer was heard--our prayers reach heaven no matter how we feel. God truly hears us, and loves us.

Don't give up.

God.

Loves.

You.

No one likes to hear this—believe me, I don’t always like it either, but it rings true once you finally reach an easier part of your life’s journey: All the terrible things that happen in life happen for a reason. God has promised that He will use it for good. We are all in this together. We are all family--the body of Christ. We are all hurting together. We are all praying and worshipping the Father together.

Don't give up.

Don't...give...up...

Hang in there.

Jesus loves you.

He's got you, holding you tightly and securely, no matter what.


Sincerely,
Glenna Duncan

What is a Wunderkind?

The word “wunderkind” is a German word that literally means “wonder child”, or prodigy. 

I have always been fascinated by the phenomenons of prodigies, young children who have an amazing talent. In fact, their talents can be better than the skills of professional adults’.

I admit, I have been so intrigued that I lose sight of who I am. I form an unhealthy jealousy towards them because I crave that attention. I am not a prodigy. I am simply a girl who does have her strengths, passions, and interests like every healthy human being, but I fall short of the line of perfection that I strive to measure up to.

Akiane Kramerik is a prodigy whose talent I coveted for a few years. She comes from a Lithuanian family who moved to the United States when she was a young girl. The beginning of her story is very interesting: Her family was atheist, but somehow Akiane received visions from God. She claims that Jesus taught her how to paint, so when she came home from heaven, she would paint these extraordinary pieces—her most famous being called Prince of Peace, completed at age 8. These paintings of heaven as well as her poetry and testimony eventually softened her parents’ hearts and they received Christ as their Savior. Kramerik’s story interestingly ties in with Colton Burpo’s, the boy who went to heaven during his operation due to appendicitis. He confirms that when he saw Jesus Christ, He looked exactly like the portrait Prince of Peace.

The topic of child geniuses raises a question in my mind: Are wunderkinds truly a rarity, a curiosity, someone to revere as extraordinary?

Albert Einstein once stated, “The one who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The one who walks alone, is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been.” This means that one who stays with the “in” crowd and tries to fit in usually misses out on something they otherwise would discover. One who patiently builds his strengths, pursues his passions, and exercises his skills always reaps the benefits. He will find out what he has been working toward all his life. It may be having a family, becoming a journalist who travels the world, learning new languages, or even finding cures for diseases. If little things that one does to brighten another’s day is considered a miracle, are little accomplishments, or even a big accomplishment later in life, considered the act of a wunderkind?

I believe that those who value their lives, take childlike wonder in the world, and find miraculous discoveries, big or small, are wunderkinds. They enjoy life’s journey, enduring the hard times in order to come out strong.

C.S. Lewis, another beloved author of mine, wrote the amazing saga The Chronicles of Narnia. In the series, his protagonist for most of the books is a young girl, Lucy Pevensie. She has childlike innocence and wonder, and makes Narnia her home along with her three siblings. They reign over their newfound kingdom, granted by Aslan. Lucy Pevensie is a character I strongly connect with on an emotional level. She is brave and strong to stand up for her belief in Narnia to her unbelieving siblings at the beginning of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. She is gentle and kind, and her love for Aslan is unwavering. This is what makes her a wunderkind.

If this is true for Lucy, is it a stretch to say that those who try to explore God’s creation with a holy curiosity are wunderkinds? Perhaps there are other ways to apply this word to different concepts of use. The most common application referring to children with remarkable talents, and the least common application referring to childlike wonder. I believe this is not a stretch at all. Those with childlike (not childish) wonder are, indeed, wunderkinds.

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” -Albert Einstein

We all have our purposes in this life. Let us enjoy this journey, embracing our talents and sharpening our abilities in order to embark on this quest of discovering how to complete our mission. Beware of losing sight of who you are when admiring the talents of others. If you don’t catch yourself, you will make wrong turns on the path that you started on.

Sincerely,

Glenna Duncan

Sacred Identity

Who am I?

Well, who might you be? We all have this question, and we all strive to answer it in some way, whether it be through hobbies, our heritage, or even our vocations, but does that fully explain who we are as individuals? No, not fully. We can merely provide information on aspects of ourselves and our origins, but not who we are exactly. No one can fully know who he or another is, which, as a result, provokes a lonely feeling in our hearts. Is it true that no one—not even our closest family members—can know us totally? I’m afraid so. Actually, I’m glad. I’m glad that no one can truly know who we are, because then we would be exposed—everyone can see the good, the bad, and the ugly about us. Then again, this can be isolating, especially when we don’t admit to our struggles, for others can only know the parts of us that we allow them to.

Why do we only want aspects of ourselves to be known, even if we do strive to be transparent with trusted friends? We deal with many trials in life, such as temptation, depression, shame, guilt, anxiety, and other imperfections that we are embarrassed to share with anyone else for fear of rejection. Perhaps we have confided in another for support, but those trusted allies still are not knowledgeable of our most secret thoughts. Have you ever had the slightest, brief wish that you could know someone out there who you could tell everything to, and know that you’re known by him? Then after that thought, did you feel a sinking feeling of loneliness? We all have. I know I have in the past. What would you think if I told you that I found the cure? Now, don’t exit this page thinking that I’m lying or don’t understand the weight of loneliness. Trust me, I do understand, and I truly have found the Cure. The “C” in “cure” is capital for a reason, and it is this: The Cure is a Person. The Person, Jesus Christ.

Now, bear with me. Hear me out before you make your decision. Who is Jesus Christ? He is the One you must know before you can understand who you are and what your role is in this world. Understand what His role is and Who He is first. Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God who was sent by His Father to earth to die for all of us. He did this because the fact that we all make mistakes (we sin) prevents us from going to Heaven (His home) when we die. Jesus took the debt of our sins and paid for them in full.  Heaven is where Jesus and his Father live—it is His Kingdom where He reigns, and it is a good place. A wonderful place where there is no suffering, no death, no sadness, no mental disorders, no physical disorders, no affliction, and no pain. There is joy and true happiness there—the kind we have never experienced on earth. True healing resides here—it is Jesus’ and His family’s home. If you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior of your life, you will become a part of His family. His Father will be your Father. You would be my sibling in Christ.

Does this fix the problem of loneliness, though? Yes, because if you accept Jesus as your Savior, He will put His Holy Spirit inside your heart—or your innermost being (not your blood pumping muscle). In doing this, He would know you inside and out. He would know the things about you that you keep others from knowing—but heres the good news: He forgives you of your sins once you accept Jesus as your Savior! Even though we all who are saved still sin, He is there to help us overcome temptation. He is gracious, kind, and He loves us like no one else is able to. If you work to build your relationship with Jesus, He will fill that lonely void in your heart. He is the friend we need. The One who will help us and teach us through His word—the Bible.

Now, I’m sure you are still wondering who I am, the author myself? I admit I provoked the question in your mind at the beginning of this blog entry, and I will answer this question promptly. First and foremost, my identity is found in Christ, as I do hope yours is as well. My name is Glenna Duncan, and I am a habitual writer. My love of writing started at a young age when my dad would tell me stories from his imagination, and as a result, my imagination has grown strong over the years and I enjoy expressing myself through various medias such as music by guitar or ukulele, writing, drawing or painting, and et cetera. I was homeschooled though my elementary school career, then I was placed in a private prep school in sixth grade up to my senior year. I am an aspiring Christian counselor who loves to listen to people’s stories and affliction in hopes of aiding them with my advice and insight. My favorite musical artists are numerous, but to list a few, they are Twenty One Pilots, Owl City, I Am They, and others. Maybe there’s a blog entry in there somewhere? Stay tuned to find out! You might also be wondering why my blog is called Cursive Rhythms. I chose this because I habitually write in cursive, and I love music with great rhythms. It’s not too clever, I admit, but I do like it and am thankful for it.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and giving it a read. I do hope you will visit again to see what I’ve been up to and what has been on my mind lately.

Sincerely,

Glenna Duncan