The Borrowed Crown

 

The Borrowed Crown

Before mountains learned their names,
Before stars rehearsed their fire,
Before time drew its first breath
And space opened its empty hands—
He Is.

Not became.
Not arose.
Not assembled from lesser things.
But Is.

The oceans of being are droplets to Him.
Galaxies are sparks beneath His feet.
Ages pass like dust motes in a sunbeam
Before the weight of His eternal Now.

What are kingdoms?
What are empires?
What are all the proud towers of men,
Their coins, banners, weapons, monuments?

A whisper in thunder.
A shadow in noonlight.
A grain of sand trying to outweigh the sea.

And what are we?

Breath wrapped in clay.
Questions wearing skin.
Fragile lamps trembling in the wind.
Creatures who bruise, forget, hunger, and fade.

Yet behold the impossible wonder:

The Infinite bends low.

The One beyond measure
Looks upon the measured.
The Source of all splendor
Calls dust beloved.

And in that gaze
Ash becomes gold.
Clay remembers glory.
The small inherit significance.

Not by possession—
But by participation.

Not by equality—
But by embrace.

Not because we rival the Sun—
But because we reflect it.

We are mirrors lifted from the earth,
Broken, cracked, unfinished mirrors,
Yet even shattered glass
Can hurl dawn across a room.

His love is the alchemy of value.
His regard is the coronation of the lowly.
His mercy is a furnace
Where scraps are forged into crowns.

So let no one call themselves worthless
Whom the Eternal has noticed.

Let no one call another disposable
Whom Infinity has loved.

Let no tyrant boast in borrowed breath.
Let no despairing soul forget:
Even your heartbeat is leased from wonder.

We own nothing.
Yet we are offered everything.

We are less than dust beside His majesty,
Yet more than stars when held in His affection.

This is the paradox that shatters cages:

To become great, kneel before Greatness.
To become full, receive from Fullness.
To shine, turn toward the Light.

For the mirror does not invent the sun.
It only faces it.

And when it does—
Rooms awaken,
Worlds brighten,
And even the smallest shard
Becomes a messenger of fire.