I met God

“People encounter God under shady oak trees, on riverbanks, at the tops of mountains, and in long stretches of barren wilderness. God shows up in whirlwinds, starry skies, burning bushes, and perfect strangers. When people want to know more about God, the son of God tells them to pay attention to the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, to women kneading bread and workers lining up for their pay. Whoever wrote this stuff believed that people could learn as much about the ways of God from paying attention to the world as they could from paying attention to scripture. What is true is what happens, even if what happens is not always right. People can learn as much about the ways of God from business deals gone bad or sparrows falling to the ground as they can from reciting the books of the Bible in order. They can learn as much from a love affair or a wildflower as they can from knowing the Ten Commandments by heart.”

                                            Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith

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This morning I met the Sacred in worship

perhaps it was an accident

its all the fault of that young child

who had never been at a church service before

for him everything was mysterious

everything was a mystery

I am not sure he understood what was going on

Snuggled next to mom

Sitting on the piano bench next to grandma

But his eyes shone

And his smile was quick

And he hugged me when it was all over

Some hit and run warmth on his way to the cookies

And I know that he drank it all in

The smiles and the hugs

The old ladies patting him on the head

I know he felt welcomed

And loved

This morning I met the sacred

Not in the space

Not in the music, or the liturgy

Or in the stolid presence of the faithful

But in the eyes of a boy

Who proudly proclaimed

“I am in the second grade

And the cookies were really good”