the soul-giver
Who or what you are
is a mystery requiring humble acceptance
not a problem demanding final solutions.
You gifted man with consciousness--
the invitation to participate in the mystery
by shaping the world he occupies.
Kings of the earth responded with arrogance--
employing the law of the jungle
that “might means right”.
Each ruler interpreted the mystery differently
seeking to amass power and control.
- - -
Foolishly, men of power became god-namers
and for a time. . .
The god-namers ruled
presuming to control both God and men.
The god-namers ruled
dividing humanity into controllers and the controlled
The god-namers ruled
luxuriating in glamour and arrogance
The god-namers ruled
losing the quest for the Holy Grail.
- - -
How wise the admonition
to not utter God’s name!
We ignored it to our peril--
we named You and contained You;
We locked You within dogmas,
confined You to denominations;
We borrowed your power to levy control,
stole from You your glory to praise our creations;
We molded and made You into our images,
choosing and selecting what pleased our design.
- - -
We are the inheritors of all that came before
We’ve misinterpreted what and who You are,
We’ve misconcluded who and what we are!
And so history unfolded. . .
Till finally the controlled awakened,
forever beyond blind obedience.
They looked and saw the illusion--
The gods named weren’t as they’d been told!
They saw empty dogma and warring denomination,
They saw corrupted power and tainted glory,
They saw false idols and self-serving gestures.
Ordinary men turned, first on the god-namers,
--then on God!
Yet foolishly they accepted the divisions of
controllers and controlled
And everyone raced to be in charge
while denying responsibility for control.
The 20th Century ‘common man’
Intrigued by the proclamation
of God’s death
tried it on and in so doing, brought about
...his own
Emptiness
Soullessness
Meaninglessness. . .
- - -
The structure of civilization
has been built upon domination and control.
The hope for its continuation
hangs upon humankind freely embracing true Wisdom.
The formula is there for us to discover
Beyond controllers
Beyond dogmas
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”
“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”
“Love one another”
“Go and sin no more”
“Forgive your enemies”
- - -
Is it that God IS NOT. . .
or
Is it that God is beyond our containing?
--our naming?
God is Unity, Totality, Infinity
God is Love, Justice, Truth
God is Benevolent Transcendent Power.
- - -
Without God upon whom to center
my life,
My Life becomes the center of
my universe.
Alienation!
Exit warmth and compassion,
honor and integrity:
“Take care of #1!”
“If it feels good, do it!”
“Grab what you can, it’s only once around!”
“The one who dies with the most toys wins!”
- - -
But we’re made to seek God
It’s programmed into our being
so imitations fill the vacuum:
sex replaces Love
legalisms replace Justice
data replaces Truth
and the almighty dollar replaces Benevolent
Transcendent
Power.
Soul-less
We’ve become the hollow men!
- - -
Louder, Faster!
Louder, Faster!! Hide the hollowness!
But no matter how loud and how fast
there are moments of
self alone with self
and the hollow places echo
the absence of the soul
. . . another suicide
and more senseless violence.
Here and there, a tear is shed, a cry is heard
another tear, another cry
and another, and another. . .
till the Louder and Faster
aren’t loud enough or fast enough
and we finally realize
There’s a cry echoing across the land. . .
The cry of a hollow generation
wailing for its lost soul!
With our own hands, we fashioned hell!
We refuse to see how we did it to ourselves--
We not only named God, but dictated the spelling
- - -
But You are the un-named God
The soul-giver
I know you by your absence.
When we turn from You
we dispossess our soul--
soon to discover
we are the hollow men.
Without You we cannot save ourselves
from ourselves.
Only in Your presence do we partake of the mystery--
Only in Your presence do we reach beyond ourselves--
Only in Your presence do we find fulfillment.
Beautiful. Brilliant. Thanks for providing my devotional this morning. Wonderful to read and ponder. I look forward to so many more serious thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI cried at the truth and wisdom of Un-Named God. I will read it again and again ...thank you.
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