When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it!” —Genesis 28:16
The Bible I set out to learn and love rewarded me with another way of approaching God, a way that trusts the union of spirit and flesh as much as it trusts the world to be a place of encounter with 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….
According to the Talmud, every blade of grass has its own angel bending over it, whispering, “Grow, grow.” How does one learn to see and hear such angels?
Barbara Brown Taylor (quoted by the Center for Action and Contemplation)
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God!
Are you there?
I wonder sometimes
When my body hurts
And my eyes fail
I wonder sometimes
When I hear the disabled ridiculed
And people laugh
When I hear hate spewed
And people cheer
When I watch as masses, driven by resentment
Are fueled by a desire dominance
I wonder sometimes as I watch us
Destroy the planet for profit
And see dying and starving children
The flotsam of war
O God!
My heart fails within me
My feet stumble
As I see the prosperity of the wicked.
I know there is nothing new under the sun
We have seen this before
The words of an ancient Psalmist echo in my soul
As he laments human arrogance
“Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence.
From their callous hearts comes iniquity; their evil imaginations have no limits.
They scoff, and speak with malice; with arrogance, they threaten oppression.
Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth.”
(Psalm 73)
Where are you, God?
Why do you not set things right!?
Why do you not bring down the mighty and lift up the poor?
Are you in this place?
Surely, you are in this place.
Help me to know it.
Help me to see you, God of love
In the brilliant reds of the sunrise
In the majesty of the mountains
In the laughing voices of the streams
Help me to see you, Lord,
In the eagle that flies
And the deer that wanders
In creatures large and small
Help me to see you in the little things
In that act of kindness
That kind word
That smile, that laugh
That comes
I need glimmers of your presence Lord,
Help me to see you
Even where it is hardest to see you
In those human creatures who strive and toil
Love and hate
Destroy and heal
We are so confusing, O Sacred
So confused
Help me to see you, lord, in myself
And in all those others
In whom your image is badly blurred
May I see and hear the angels
Softly whispering
You are loved
You are loved
Grow
Grow
Dancing Faith 