a prophetic voice-

reading the Bible It is not in the book but in the being that we find spiritual truth... and yet scriptures are revered...elevated to a holy place, words cherry-picked and                          chosen, used as weapons and as warnings, not as wisdom or as welcome... words quoted, cited, spoken with a towering authority-      and all the while, the very ones who claim the words      promote fear and hate, exclusion, war...      while words of love, acceptance, and forgiveness      get lost somewhere...forgotten... and the One called God,       the One called Love,       the One Creator of us all            gets pushed aside and      ...

Do I still have questions about God? Even now? At seventy-four? Of course I do... about the why and who and how... the why-nots and the no-ways... The wondering and the wandering never end... even as my earthly end looms large, well within my sight- And then I see the verdant green of trees    towering high above me hear the familiar call of the scarlet cardinal,     the small brown wren, and the chatter of     the ever-present squirrels watch the children riding bikes down my     quiet street see my neighbor lovingly tending her lovely     garden hear a beloved voice on the phone learn of earthquakes and wildfires and     raging floods and the many helping     hands offering aid And I know- in spite of still-unanswered     questions- that I have seen...am seeing-     each day- the face of God.  No further explanations necessary.