Jitterbugging for Jesus

Speaking of the mysteries of God (see this blog’s posting from yesterday):

Here’s a poetic reflection that expands on the mysteries of God in a powerful way, while reminding us that there is a time to run, a time to stop and tune in to the larger voice that is constantly calling:

“I hold up too big a section of the sky to sit down and meditate.” — From The Book of Uncommon Prayer

Eternal God,
you are a song amid silence,
a voice out of quietness,
a light out of darkness,
a presence in the emptiness,
a coming out of the void.

You are all of these things and more.
You are Mystery that encompasses meaning,
meaning that penetrates mystery.

You are God, I am man.
I strut and brag,
I put down my fellows
and bluster out assertions of my achievements.
And then something happens:
I wonder who I am,
and if I matter.
Night falls,
I am alone in the dark and afraid.
Someone dies, I feel so powerless.

A child is born,
I am touched by the miracle of life.
At such moments I pause . . .
to listen for a song amid silence,
a voice out of stillness
to look for a light out of darkness.

I want to feel a presence in the emptiness.
I find myself reaching for a hand . . .
Oftentimes, the feeling passes quickly,
and I am on the run again:
success to achieve,
money to make.

Catch me if you can, God: Got things to do, places to go, money to make.

O Lord, you have to catch me on the run most of the time,
I am too busy to stop,
too important to pause for contemplation.
I hold up too big a section of the sky
to sit down and meditate.

But even on the run,
an occasional flicker of doubt assails me,
And I suspect I may not be as important to the world
as I think I am.

Jesus said each of us is important to you.
It is as if every hair of our heads were numbered.
How can that be?
But in the hope that it is so,
I would stop running
stop shouting,
and be myself.
Let me be still now,
let me be calm.

Let me rest upon the faith that you are, God.
And I need not be afraid.

—- From A Book of Uncommon Prayer, Kenneth G. Phifer