from Simon

Extravagant God

Excessive

Generous

lavish God …

why do you waste so much time on us?

You create rainbows that no one sees;

shower down intricate separate unique

stunning autumn leaves by the billions

and one at a time

that we greet not with applause

but with complaints of inconvenience.

You place whales beneath fathoms of ocean

singing their plaintive haunting songs

too deep for our ears to hear.

You create fantastic jungles within a square foot of grass

a universe in an atom

breathtaking places that have never been seen or appreciated

by a single human being.

Why are we so bored and dull?

Why do we appreciate water most in the desert

health only during sickness

our friend when he leaves

our love when she dies?

Should we pray for less

for you to ration Your grace

to waste no rainbow?

Forgive us.

You don’t paint rainbows just for us to see

nor make birdsong just for us to hear.

Rebuke our terrible pride

and chastise our deism

that imagines You created only once

long ago

and can’t perceive Genesis now

or Eden here

or what a new day means.

Help us to do two impossible things:

to take it ALL in

(every miraculous atom of it)

and to waste our time on a rose

a place

a time

a person.

Perhaps one will bring us all

full time to eternity

one blackbird to You.

Prodigal God, may we find

a millionth of the joy that clearly is yours

Amen