Earthbound by Kimberly Phinney

“God’s people need to be carried. They are very heavy by nature. They have no wings, or if they have, they are like the dove of old that lay among the pots; and they need divine grace to make them rise up on wings covered with silver and with feathers of yellow gold. By nature, sparks fly upward, but the sinful souls of men fall downward.”

–Charles Spurgeon

We are earthbound things:

heavy (and sometimes good) souls,

a diaspora cursed

to roam.

Sparks fly upward, yes,

and so do winged-things.

But surely never us.

No, we are tied downward.

They split the sky with wonder—

possessing fire and light.

Yet, ours is a destiny

made in bog and mire.

They are free, free, free—

the crane, the crow, the sparrow!

But they do not know 

how free they are—I think.

Oh, we are the wingless made wild 

only by our wondering,

possessing neither fire nor light

but only the faintest hope:

somewhere there is more,

and if we believe,

we will forever

be carried vertically.

Kimberly is a wife, mother, writer, and professional photographer. But most importantly, she is a child of God. After a health crisis and near-death experience in 2021, Kimberly learned to find God in the hardest places and hopes to use her story to help others through her writing and service. She has her bachelor’s and M.Ed. in English and is an AP English teacher and department head at a private school in Tampa, FL. She recently started her doctorate in counseling and community care and has been published in Christianity Today, Ekstasis Magazine, Ruminate, The Write Launch, and Heart of Flesh, among others. Currently, she is working on a poetry chapbook and a book on parenting, leading, and teaching the next generation. In her free time, she loves to garden and paint with her daughter, drink strong coffee with her husband, and read heaps of books—particularly the Bible and The Great Gatsby—over and over again. You can find her at www.PhinneyPhotography.com and on Instagram @phinneyphotography.