Let Me Bless the Borrowed Ride
The Great Litany
C Train To the Temple
If God answered my recent complaint as he had that of Jeremiah
If God answered my recent complaint as he had that of Jeremiah
Lenten Devotional for 2021
Jeremiah 12:1-16
Yet another story of corruption and devastation and lack of care...
I pounded the steering wheel and raged
I demanded of God, why do you let good people struggle?
I whispered to God, why do you let bad people live so well?
I rested my head on the wheel, my private tantrum done.
The air in the car suddenly warmed
And grew sweet with flowers as on a sticky July day.
In the stillness, amidst the faint sounds of what I could swear were Virginia peepers,
A small still voice said,
Are you serious?
Look around you.
I do not let bad people prosper;
Evil is a germ that seeks immediate gain, blinded always to the cost.
You are my children, all of you–
When one gets inflamed, I use others as a drawing salve to set things right.
If this moment is too much for you, how will you handle it when I call you?
How will you find your way to Me if you keep cursing a pebble at your feet?
If the whole land must plunge into madness to burn off the latest fever,
Turn your eyes to me.
Walk towards me every day.
Be My Mercy.
The voice grew silent.
I looked in the mirror and realized I was a blotchy mess,
Tears streaming down my face, knuckles gripping white on the wheel...
Eventually I staggered inside to go buy groceries, thanking God I brought a list.
Later, I noticed that little crack in the windshield was gone
And the car's empty ashtrays were filled with honeysuckle.
It budded, bloomed, and faded before I cleaned it out
And went to get the milk I had forgotten the week before.