My God!

When I speak of the One, my God, revealed

In whose Image I am formed,

Of whom do I speak?

I am here, each atom constituted

A creature from nothing, there

From the beginning

All time, all space in

One place.

In time,

All became and

Dust breathed.

Poets and prophets see the

Ultimate vision,

From just beyond the horizon where

This One, My God, dwells

Imaged in a breath, a wind.

The Poet breathes deeply and sees

A garden in which

Our original Mother and Father

In naked innocence shared

A place with the One, my God.

Out of peace

Our parents were called to tend

And subdue the creatures.

And they obeyed, walking

Each evening with God in

A garden, called Eden.

The Poet sees good;

All is good and its

Fullness is very good.

The Poet sees a tree of judgement

Set in the midst of the garden, called Eden,

Whose fruits are forbidden.

This too is good.

Here I am, standing in guilt and shame.

Formed, like the lion and the lamb,

Subject to chance and time.

Here I am, sensing the mess I have made,

Feeling empty, futile.

And I know,

What the lion and the lamb in innocence perform,

What the creatures that scurry and crawl do,

I may not do, they

Cause me pain and violate my bounds.

I see what to animals is nature, to me

Is forbidden.

I see time, death and disease, systems and cycles

As threats.

I judge good and evil,

And suffer and I see torment.

I have eaten the forbidden fruit.

I do not live in Eden.

I am cast out, cursed with my parents.

I yearn for her restored innocence.

My God is the One who speaks to this need.

We are taught through the Prophet

That in grasping the fruit of the tree

God cast us out of Eden

And all became Wrath.

The poet tells us

That while knowing the voice of the One

Who walked in the cool of the evening,

Who spoke in that place of peace,

Our Father and Mother listened to the voice of

Another and we follow.

My God is the One who speaks, he speaks

Righteousness, steadfastness and compassion.

He is righteous, compassionate and steadfast.

Though we know this voice of truth,

Another speaks and we hear.

The prophets tell us

By his word, God

Creates, refines and inhabits.

By his word humanity becomes its best,

Saved from compulsion and fear and is transformed,

Conformed, to his image.

In Eden, humanity is taught by peace and

Obedience to his voice.

We too refine, inhabit and fill.

Out of Eden, Chaos is tamed.

In Community, God and

We tend, subdue and dwell, made one.

Here I am, standing in chaos.

Tormented by wrath,

There is no delight.

All is judged suffering:

The tree is a test and I am on trial.

My part is to fail, know shame

Looking to Eden as some reward, a control,

Dragging my gaze above and beyond.

Eden echoes within and

Disrupts this vision.

My God is the One who sets my gaze

Beneath and beyond to the now,

Forming hope from the humble and contrite

Heart within, where he lives.

My God is the One who is continually born.

Each new life, innocent and blessed:

The dwelling place of God’s image.

Not in Eden: without, all is wrath.

One day, even our last, in poverty,

We learn to say,

Here I am, adapted to the hurt,

Far away, but near enough to hear,

This is not the end.

My God is the One who, at the last, brings new birth,

Frees us and consummates the

Voice within. The

Desire is heard and

The still small voice of my God speaks.

I am healed.

My God is the One who

In my abiding, abides;

In my seeking, reveals;

In my listening, speaks.

I am home, seated in the shade of a tree,

And the Prophet tells me of his coming;

Declares the truth,

That in hearts God chooses to be found.

Eden moves through the temple

And inhabits the space within, so that,

Without is a space, saved and refined.

My God is the One who is the Christ,

Who, in the fullness of time, was born a person; Jesus,

Who, my God with us, bore the wrath, suffered and died

On the Cross

And is ever new, alive.

God’s Image speaks from the beginning and, for me, a person, learns to say,

Here I am, your will be done my God, not mine.

I am saved to walk in Eden now.

I am saved to transfigure the world,

Subdue it and bring peace.

Eden is loving my neighbour.

Eden is making peace.

Eden is loving even those who don’t love me at all.

Salvation is in knowing this freedom.

Salvation is finding a home.

In Christ I am set back on the path.

Here. Now.

Christ is my salvation,

Made whole

Where I am.

Delivered from fear

Where I am,

By faith.

Not a reward:

Not a transaction.

I cannot fail

Salvation is, was and ever will be

Now and for evermore.

Here I am, confused, broken, alarmed and

Unwell, consumed by need.

I can barely hear you my God.

Open my eyes so I might see,

Cleanse my heart so I might be free.

Today.

Transfigure your image in me and bring me home.

As I cry, healing can emerge and

I can find hope.