Devious God

“God is a perfect gentleman,” I’ve heard them say,
“Will not intrude, impose, must be invited.”
Excuse me if I dare to disagree!
The God I’ve learned to recognise
is more bulldozer than invited guest;
comes crashing in at unexpected moments,
destroying, tearing down, demolishing,
all I have thought secure.

“God is a crutch the weak depend upon.”
If God’s a crutch, a prop, then this is one
crutch I can do without!
The more I know of God, the less I trust
in God’s support along the path I choose.
God is no crutch to help me on my way;
more like a captor forcing me
along a path I have no wish to tread.

In the beginning, all they said was true –
I, being wooed with gentlemanly love,
Said “Come into my heart, my life.”
God came – reordered my priorities; swept out
so many of the things I deeply treasured;
impelled me down a rough and dangerous path;
towards the unknown realm of life in all its fullness,
God, offered but an inch, had seized a mile!

Joy MacCormack