God Loves Oklahoma

Here's an article I wrote for our church's newsletter last week following the devastating tornadoes in Oklahoma...

Why am I not shocked that the Westboro Baptist Church would tweet “God Hates Oklahoma” in the wake of Monday’s massive tornado?  Perhaps it is because I’m so attune to the vile hatred spewed by the representatives of WBC due to my current involvement in HOPE UCC’s production of The Laramie Project.  But there is no excuse for such ignorant behavior in the name of God. 

As I have been watching the news and reading about the people of Moore, Oklahoma affected by this recent tornado, I can’t help but feel compassion and sadness.  I continue to pray for those who are missing, those who have lost everything, those whose lives have changed forever in an instant.

I offer prayers of thanksgiving for the search and rescue crews, official and un-official.  I am thankful for those brave enough to rush in and do what they can for others, showing that selflessness and neighborly love continue to be powerful things.  I pray a prayer of thanksgiving for those who presented the warning, those who care for the wounded, and those that will bury the dead...

“God Hates Oklahoma” is not a response to tragedy such as this.  “God Hates Oklahoma” says, in some way, that God was responsible for the devastation, that God was in the tornado, navigating its course through the neighborhoods and schools. 

In 1 Kings 19, Elijah encounters God on the mountainside...but he didn’t encounter God in the earthquake, the fire or the mighty wind...God was present to Elijah in the silence that followed.  So for those who think that God somehow decided to destroy a community in Oklahoma... “the Lord was not in the wind.” (1 Kings 19:11)

The silence that followed...once the winds had died down...is the place that encompassed God.  Neighbor helping neighbor.  A nation tuned in from a distance.  Faith communities on bended knee.  That is where we continue to meet God in times such as this...not in the cause of the devastation but in the time of rebuilding that follows.

“What can I do?” you ask.  Plenty.  Begin with prayer...prayer for all of those who have seen and are seeing first-hand just how powerful these storms can be.  Pray for the rebuilding of a community...in time.  Pray for peace and comfort for the many who will find it difficult to believe that it exists.

And then act...do something to help those affected by the tornado.  Educate yourself on Climate Change and the increase in storm activity our planet is seeing.  Contribute to a relief organization that will assist the families in Oklahoma in rebuilding.  Prepare Church World Services Disaster Kits to help keep the inventory steady as supplies are shared with families in need.  Go...link up with a reputable service organization and go to Oklahoma to help with the clean up. 

Do something...so that the people of Oklahoma...and the people of the world see through your actions that indeed, GOD LOVES OKLAHOMA!

How Do You Describe God?

Recently I was asked "how do you describe God?" 

Well...

(blank space to represent a long period of time passing while I contemplated an answer...)

How do you describe something that you have never physically seen, heard, touched, smelled or tasted?  Do you rely primarily on the experiences of others?  Do you make something up?  

How do you reveal one of the greatest mysteries of humankind in simple words?  Is it even possible?

Do I describe God in the things that I see where I feel God is present...? The newly budding trees?  The loving eyes of our Chihuahua-Dachshund mix?  The gentle hum of a parent rocking their child to sleep? The feeling of your stomach being filled after a period of great hunger?

The words of Lillian Daniel enter into my mind as my list begins to seem as if it is something shared by someone who is "Spiritual but not Religious." Someone who speaks of seeing God in the sunsets...Daniel says; "any idiot can see God in the sunset."  Who doesn't?

And in reality...yes, sometimes I can see God in a sunset...and in all of those other things that I've listed.  But even now it seems that my list is far from complete.

So this morning, this question was rolling around in my head and here’s where it landed...

I would describe God as:

• the voice of reason that enters into our thoughts when we allow it enough time to speak
• the chill up our spine when a song that we sing (aloud or within) roots deep within our being
• the guide in our decision-making that just seems to ‘make sense’ – more than listening to our gut
• the tightening of our stomach when we are witness to injustice
• the sense of gratitude when we pay attention to our breath...or the breathing of others
• the brilliance seen in birth
• the joy seen in growth
• the sorrow seen in death

And ultimately (and this seems like a throw-away, but it’s not), I would describe God as MYSTERY.  But how do we explain that to others?

How do you explain what it’s like to give birth to a child

–when the one listening will never have that opportunity?

How do you paint a picture of what it is to be loved

–when the one viewing your painting knows only a life of pain and abuse?

How do you let someone know that there is a presence within us that when we are opened to it, will burst forth in light and wisdom and will cast away all doubt

– when the one whom we encounter is blind to that interpretation?

God is...an understanding...an experience...a mystery, open for one and all to take in yet presenting in so many different ways...sunsets included.  And it is up to us as individuals to put words to that understanding.  Only then can we speak the experience of God to others...hoping they too will have the mystery revealed to them.