Rokinrev In a Different Light

To Mary

“I want to be able to tell you

All I have seen and heard

All I have known, all I will know

But will you understand

When I tell you I have seen G-d

In a tree or a mountain

In a piece of bread dipped in wine

In a dancer, a clown

a person living under the bridge

who huddles in the cold

A person who cannot see,or hear, or walk

“Perhaps you will hear

If I speak in the language of love

If I do not speak to you

but speak to your soul

“With questions – questions that may not have answers we can hear with our ears but ring loudly in our hearts

“Will you understand if

I tell you I have seen G-d in you?”

This poem was named one of the top ten poems of 1989 of The American Poetry Association

When I unboxed this poem and the other one I talked about in yesterday’s post, I actually choked up. This one has been reworked and reposted numerous times, once posted on my long gone website even.

This one was written in frustration after my rewritten Theology paper was finished. I knew I was in trouble when attempt after attempt was returned. My depression around it drove me to bed and about this time my dyslexia had kicked in and I could type, just cry. My friends actually found a secretary) typist who could read and decipher my thoughts and as an addendum I added the poem, dedicated to the professor. This time it passed

When it won a top ten and was published in their yearly anthology, I wanted to show it to her. However, she didn't remember, respond or seem to care.

To me, still, it is a crowning achievement. For the very first time, I was seen as a poet. But, look carefully at the tag line: Will you understand if I tell you I have seen G-d in you? I am also a theologian/ thealogian, grounded into the deep as the United Church of Christ meets later this month for Synod in Missouri. Into the Deep is the tagline and the challenge we all face in things like Christian Nationalism, mass deportations, Project 2025, college presidents forced to resign, ICE and DOGE and the partridge in a pear tree of what greater hell is he going to do next.

I want to see G-d in everyone and everything. In Genesis, G-d saw it was good. I can only hope that, like Sodom and Gemorrah, enough can be found to stop the destruction.

In Genesis 18+19, it was reported that G-d destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah primarily due to the extreme wickedness and sinfulness of their inhabitants. While the specific sins are debated, the biblical narrative highlights their arrogance, violence, and inhospitality towards strangers. Some religious scholars say the destruction was a direct consequence of their moral depravity and a demonstration of G-d's righteous judgment.

Now, I read, I watch and I pray because what I see is a man and his followers trying to be gods over those who are different than them. We may not have to wait to see what judgement G-d's going to hand out this time because FOTUS and the gang that couldn't shoot straight will destroy it before then.

It's going to take generations before the repairs are complete from what's been done in less than 200 days. Until then ..

Be safe out there and remember that there is always hope