My friend Chris inspired me to pull this poem out of the archives of my life. Some of it sounds a bit cheesier now than it did when I wrote it probably 3 years ago. Maybe not all of it is theologically correct. I don't know. But whatever. You should read it anyway.

God Is

God is not a tablet of commandments
Measuring and correcting and punishing.
He is a sunset so breathtaking
That for just a moment you forget
All your failings and your tragedies
Because all you can see is the beauty.
And somehow, some of the light floods inside of you
And chases some of the darkness away
Effortlessly...
All you to do is look.

God is not a magic lamp
That gives you all your desires
If you search for Him hard enough and
Rub Him the right way.
He is the friend
That spins you around with joy
When you are falling in love
Laughs at your jokes even when they're
Not that funny
And cries as hard as you do when you find out
You have cancer.
All you have to do is open up your arms.

God is not Mr. Rogers
Giving cookies when you are good
And spankings when you don't listen.
He is a lover
That throws open the floodgates of passion
Inviting you to let go of your own world and
Risk drowning
For even one moment of being surrounded
By all encompassing, drenching,
Unquenchable, unfathomable LOVE...
All you have to do is jump.

Because, in the end
We don't really want the magic lamps and the cookies
And the comfort of being hemmed up in our easy, predictable worlds.
We want a person that loves us completely.
That loves the beautiful parts of us
That loves the ugly parts of us.
That loves without boundaries, without excuses
Without expectations of getting anything in return.
He's there.
He's waiting.
He died to love you like that.
All you have to do is believe.