Sabbath Messages > Sabbath Message: Sept. 25, 2004
Good Sabbath
September 25, 2004 O God
I wonder what You are thinking as we stand before Thee
As we pass before Thee
Fasting yet thirsting for Thy forgiveness and love.
We ask You to remember how human You have made us.
If we have been created in Your image, are You somewhat human Yourself?
Or an ancient star that guided our forefathers
and then faded from our sights
as we invented substitutes and passion?
What are Your plans for us?
Can You allow us to know,
as we pace before You, with fear and faith overflowing our souls.
We need expressions of Your love for us
That You still have faith in us, rather than searching for a new Noah,
Expressions that we can see and hear
Is this possibility or fable?
Our enemies - Yours and ours - are more cunning
Hosted by grinning devils hiding in caves
Or politicians spinning truth, redefining words -
Equal insincerities united in destruction of truth and liberty.
They blame us for fictions they invent
For fanaticism requires no nourishment except the death of innocence.
O God
Where are You these days?
Do You hide Your Face in Your grief?
Were You at the Russian schoolhouse where innocence again was murdered
Or on the busses in Beersheba-
Perhaps watching the devastation of Haiti
Where hope was evacuated so long ago -
Or in Sudan, trying to understand Your creations
Or in Iraq where the blood of hero and fanatic mix in the sand?
Do You weep also?
Do You?
Why always in silence?
I stand before Thee, this Holy Sabbath
With heavy heart
Yet with songs as powerful as silence
Soaring to Thy Place
Mixed with the smoke and soot of memories past
Of innocence and peace lying in a common grave.
O Lord
I stand before You with trembling memory and love
From ancient tradition and present possibilities
Please be with me in this holiest of days
When fast substitutes for sacrifice
Please listen as I sing to Thee...
Of reflected pain
Of magnificent devotion;
We are modern with technology
But human nature remains behind-well behind
Hiding behind words
pretending human feelings
And killing, in the name of...
Of what?
Finally, of what?
O Lord of Mystery
At Genesis You looked down at your creations and pronounced
"this is good";
When You look down today
Do You feel the same
Or are You searching for another Noah
With tears of sadness in Your eyes -
Will we be Your Triumph or Your failure??
We are so aware of how puny and human we are
So please forgive us our iniquities
And make us sensitive to each other
More aware of any callous we may carry
Make us more in touch with those deprived of economic substance
And more the purveyors of love.
For in love there is poetry
And the poets sing of how their hearts ring
And always the words are placed
By Thee.
When we add love to a house, we find a home:
Add righteousness to a city and we create a community;
Adding justice to human endeavor and we build a civilization;
With Your help
For this is what faith is all about
At times we feel that You have forgotten us,
But please remember that
We've not forgotten You, Dear God.
As You hear our prayers.
Answering with kindness and love.
Amen
sandy
