“If we had forgotten to pray to our God or made fools of ourselves with store-bought gods, wouldn’t God have figured this out?” Psalm 44.17,18
Sometimes rhetorical reflection is very dangerous! We know the facts yet we are unable to accept their truth and reality emotionally. Reflection is often the one process we go through that brings the cold blunt conflict out in the open, forcing reconcilement. Reconciling differing facts, especially about our self, is difficult and can be painful as well.
As I spend a week in my old work neighborhood, visiting with friends and colleagues, the change and lack of change strikes me in their polar positions. One good friend confronts the reality of human fragility and death; another celebrates the joy in discovering his God journey. One friend laments about lost opportunities, another revels in the challenges around him. One friend works on developing and maintaining roots, another looks to escape the playground where he finds himself. Black, white, good, bad, joy, and sorrow all mixed in life.
The common thread is our ability to understand our position with God. We act as though our behavior dictates God’s actions. We lament when our “karma” does not bring good things in all aspects of day to day living. We express confusion when life appears as chaos. We ask, in so many ways, why hasn’t God figured this out!
This week I found one special God witness who continues to shed light on the question. God has, in an old friend who is fighting a life threatening disease, a witness to his love, acceptance, grace that is powerful beyond measure. One expects to find laments, complaints, or at least resignation when faced with the fresh reality of death. Not in God’s witness!
God’s witness this week reminds me that God figured life out long ago. God knew we forgot to pray, made fools of ourselves with the store-bought gods of money, power, and status, and understood what he needed to do. Cover our sins with his life and give us love unconditionally.
Case closed.
