God of those who suffer
You wore our flesh
And in the terror of the cross
You wore the outrage of our pain
Jan
Richardson, In Wisdom’s Path, p. 126
_____________________________________
just how far can we take this “incarnation thing”?
I mean seriously!
the very idea!
I think most times we shy away
from the radical identification of God
with our often miserable state
think of our metaphors and images
footprints in the sand
God with us, sure
but not in us
still outside us
deigning, perhaps, to carry us
or not
but how satisfying is it to think of a God
standing there, outside
watching our pain and choosing
to respond, or not respond?
I remember hearing of a person in an addictions group
sexually, emotionally, and physically abused
recoiling from the footsteps in the sand story
“I didn’t want God to carry me” she cried
“I wanted God to make it stop”
and yet the idea that God was in her
woven into the fabric of her being
incarnate
going through the pain with her
was something richer and deeper
God in her, as she was abused
a new moment on the cross
a kind of death
and yet out of that death
because of the presence, possibility
that she could and would rise
ah! present One
ah! Love!
You do not merely stand with me
You dwell in me
You are woven into me
enfleshed
what I feel, you feel
what I think you experience
my pain, my joy
my love
my all
sometimes I am your joy
sometimes I am your cross
but always I am yours
and always
I am you
working your purpose out
be ever present
incarnate if you will
we are in this
together
whatever may come
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