Blessing

A. Unabashed Pacifist:
The only fanatics who have a clue about God are peaceniks.

B. Unabashed Christian:
Holy One,
In my room: peace, joy, love - blessing.
In my house: sharing, friendship, food - blessing.
Out my window: trees, flowers, sky, mountains, neighbors - blessing.
In my community: arts, compassion, respect, integrity - blessing.
You never let up, do you? You bless us until we can't help but notice.
Amen

C. Unquoting Jesus:
"I’ll have a raspberry latte grande, please." [Well, no, but would He?]

D. A Joke/Parable:
"Making room for more demons..."

A mother told her son to sweep the kitchen floor one evening
while she washed the dishes. But the broom had been left in the
garage and the boy was afraid of the dark.

He said to is mother, "God's everywhere, right Mom?"

"Yes, dear," she replied.

"And God wants to help us, right Mom?"

"Yes, son. That's very good!"

With that reassurance, the boy opened the door, peered into the
darkness and shouted, "HEY, GOD! HOW 'BOUT HANDING ME THE BROOM!"

The boy and his mother were astounded to hear the whispered
reply, "Step outside into the dark, child. I'll go with you for
the broom."




[When I first heard that story, it ended with the boy's shout. The punch-line ending gave it the character of a joke. The new ending gives it a different kind of punch to cause a reaction in
addition to humor. It might lead us to think more about our understandings of how and where we experience God's presence -- exactly what biblical parables often do.

Now, suppose I change the ending again. I alter the story's final paragraph slightly, so that it reads:

After the yell out the door, the boy's father called from the darkness of the garage, "Come on out, son. I have the broom here."



This variation has a different effect. It is at once more true to life (so more in the manner of a parable), but may also introduce a note of discomfort (another parable trait) with a human and male word image for God.