[Critique Group 1] Leonard's comments re: Martia's piece

Fri Aug 30 14:58:28 EDT 2019

I wish I hadwritten this piece. That’s how close it mirrors my own belief.  

It’s a strong anddaring piece. 

There are somethat will be  offended  and challenged. 

Others, likemyself, will take heart in the support it gives to the non-traditional way in which we see things.  

All the slashesnecessitated my slowing down my computer reading voice to be able todistinguish  all the words on either sideof those slashes.  Thank you for writingit. 

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Date:
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Wed, Aug 21, 2019 7:21 pm
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IBelieve In God, Under Any Name

MarciaJ. Wick, The Write Sisters

August2019

WordCount:  537

Note: Religious subject matter not intended to offend; intended to include allbelievers.

Yes,I believe in God. I believe in God under any and all names. I believe in God asJesus, Mohammed, Yahweh, Buddha, Krishna,Abraham, the Dalai Lama, and Allah. I believe God was manifested in MartinLuther King, Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandala, Gandhi, and John Lennon. I believeGod performs miracles through the touching hands of teachers, doctors, andparents every day. I believe I hear God’s words on the radio and television -in the cries of children torn from the arms of loving parents, in the screamsof wounded soldiers paying the price of politics, in the pleas of women whosebodies are controlled by others, and in the desperate petitions of the homelessand oppressed. 

Ibelieve God has no gender, as that is a characteristic assigned to humans andanimals. God is a He/She/It, none of the above or all of the above, asShe/He/It/is inclined to “be.” Being God, after all, It/He/She wouldn’t belimited in any way, shape, or form, would She/It/He? 

Godcan make his presence known any time God chooses. God can reach people in thedesert or on a mountain top. God can touch urban dwellers or cave dwellers;Black or White or Asian; at any point in time - past, present, or future; onany continent, in any hemisphere, on any planet, in any universe, or in agalaxy far, far away that perhaps He/She/It hasn’t even created yet.

I would add a thought that seems to followlogically; God is always touching everyone and everything all the time. It is god’s nature.

Ibelieve that God existed before humankind, dinosaurs, bacteria, or cockroacheson this planet we call Earth. I believe that God will exist after theextinction of life as we know it.  I believe God isn’t bound by man, toonly one group of people at one moment in time. God created man. God createdtime. God caused the Big Bang. Before that, all space and time was God. Afterthat, all space and time is God.

Ibelieve in life after death, in life before death, in life that may take anyform. Like water molecules seamlessly connected, we’ll move in synchronicitythrough space and time; we’ll flow together as an endless river through theveins of God.

This last line in particular,  is beautifully poetic. 

Ibelieve in the power of prayer. I pray to God regularly. I pray in the Catholicchurch and the Jewish synagogue. I pray when I’m walking with my Guide Dog. Ipray when forest fires explode. I pray in thanks and gratitude, supplicationand fear. I pray alone in silence, and loudly among thousands at the Women’sMarch  when I chant, “Immigrants are welcome here!” I pray that I willhave the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change thethings I can, and wisdom to know the difference. I pray to anyone and everyonewho will listen, hedging my bets.

Godisn’t “yours” or mine.” God isn’t something we can claim to own . God doesn’tbelong to the Catholics, Presbyterians, Baptists or Jews; God doesn’t excludethe agnostics, atheists, or innocents. God doesn’t give one of us priority overanother – He/She/It has a boundless heart big enough for all life throughoutspace and time, forever and ever, Amen.

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