ON BEING THANKFUL TO GOD
Lord, I thank you that I am not as other men ... Luke 18, 11.
Lord, if I thank You for sparing me
horror, do I then condemn
You for imposing that same
horror on others?
Easier perhaps not
to think of You as personal
- as an impersonal force of Nature, but
if I can't imagine You as personal
where is the dance? Who am I dancing with?
Lord, this is my dance.
The South Carolina slave woman
whooping and hollering
in the field because she
knew she was saved,
she had her dance.
Everyone You dance with, Lord,
You dance with
One to one.
Why then condemn You
for not sparing others?
My pleasant life
is what You've given me.
Her slavery
is what You've given her.
What does that amount to
in Eternity?
But why then should I bother
giving You thanks
for what is just another
step in the dance?