Arena in the Garden

Many view life as an arena
where they must beat out happiness
over many spoilers. See themselves
 as contenders on a lifelong battlefield
with opponents seeking their demise.

Every fellow human is suspected
of betrayal (or at least selfish intent),
a personal agenda opposed to theirs.
They lash out in pain at anyone
who approaches, who encroaches
on this barren vineyard.

Once called to be Christians,
theirs is an arena in the garden
where they are dying on the vine,
wallow on the ground of the fallen. 
How can they be lifted, experience
warmth, the light of the Son?
Pruning will be necessary
to trim away what’s dead.

first published in Penned From The Heart Devotional

also published in SOUL SEARCH Chapbook

also published in Streams of Living Water Anthology