That a child has to beg like a dog in the 21st century shows that God simply doesn't swoop in and make things right, no matter how many prayers fly. If the Reign of God lives within, then it seems that it's up to us to make this right. Perhaps God is this child.
Prayer changes us, opens us to action. Maybe our paradigm of God needs to change. An old Irish saying tells us that "bidden or not, God is present." Perhaps we are the hands, voice and feet of God in this world.
If we "live, move and have our being" in God, how silly to speak of a God who "tests" us by refraining from making justice with his (sic) all-powerful hands. No loving parent is going to teach his or her child a lesson by allowing that child to suffer; no sane one, anyway. Perhaps we need to experience God a new way.
In this world where the politics of hate reign, where a child like the one above becomes "other," we need to make for justice before it's too late. Perhaps Lent is about that and not giving up meat only to eat lobster on Fridays. Perhaps...
Prayer changes us, opens us to action. Maybe our paradigm of God needs to change. An old Irish saying tells us that "bidden or not, God is present." Perhaps we are the hands, voice and feet of God in this world.
If we "live, move and have our being" in God, how silly to speak of a God who "tests" us by refraining from making justice with his (sic) all-powerful hands. No loving parent is going to teach his or her child a lesson by allowing that child to suffer; no sane one, anyway. Perhaps we need to experience God a new way.
In this world where the politics of hate reign, where a child like the one above becomes "other," we need to make for justice before it's too late. Perhaps Lent is about that and not giving up meat only to eat lobster on Fridays. Perhaps...