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Primitive religion is not believed, it is danced!

Arthur Darby Nock

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
And only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

Elizabeth Browning



Sunday, April 21, 2013

Where is God

I am a man of constant sorrows
some times I feel like I
resemble that remark

and I would guess that I am not alone in my affliction
the pain of the world
is just too hard to get away from

it shouts at us from our televisions
as we see pictures of mangled limbs
and anguished parents

as we hear the wails of villagers in
Afghanistan
where a wedding became a funeral 
and watch the deadly chaos of Syria

But often pain is closer to home
we see it
all around
as people struggle with cancer
as young children get diabetes
as young women are raped and humiliated
and die at their own hand

we see it in poverty
and addiction
in mental illness
and emotional chaos
we see it in bad choices made
and consequences endured

sometimes in our pain
we cry
 "Where is God!"

Our minds race
to a myriad of questions?
Is there a God, a Sacred, a Something Greater
at all
at all?
Does that "something" engage with this reality
at all?
Does this power care?
Is that power out there, or in here?
Is the sacred merely a spectator?

call it faith
call it naivety
call it supidity

for me the only answer that works
the answer I come to
when I look long enough at the cross
is this 

God is here!
right here
in the midst of the pain
feeling it
participating in it 
going through it with me
making it bearable
not taking it away

but reminding me
that in the midst of it
I have all that I need.

It is within me

Spirit
yes
God

1 comment:

  1. you continue to amaze me with your words ;-)

    ReplyDelete