Give God some credit

When Scott Burkun (WordPress’s PostADay2011 coordinator) asked,  “Who deserves more credit?” I first thought of teachers–those who taught me, those who help me educate my sons, and those who try to create an intelligent and civilized populace for me to dwell in–but that’s my post for another day. First, what about the greatest teacher? When will God get a little respect?

God provides life.

We destroy it. We fritter it away. We whine that no life is long enough or easy enough. We explain away the miracle. We pretend we are not God’s children.

God invites us to phone home, direct, anytime, from anywhere.

We call when we’re in trouble.

God provides the plan for our present and eternal happiness.

We fail to seek it, or we wander away. We openly flout God’s principles of happiness and even ridicule others who live them.

God provides our freedom.

We blame God for what people do with their freedom. We beg God to stop them. God warns, people disobey, trouble follows, and God still gets blamed. We whine when our own choices have unwanted consequences.

God provides breath.

We smoke. So do our cars and factories.

God provides this stunningly beautiful planet, the only livable one within unfathomable lightyears of this one.

We desecrate it. We fight over it. We live most days where we can’t see the light of day. We explain away the miracle.

God provides our bodies.

We abuse, mutilate, and desecrate them. We worship bodies and their insatiable appetites. We say that we own our bodies and that they are no business of God’s. We fail to nurture our bodies. We fail to master our bodies and use our abilities for blessing God’s children.

God provides a beautiful variety of skin colors, features, and talents, so that each child is an original work of art.

We hate or fear those who are different. We get so busy with one little tribe we miss the binocular vision, the stereoscopic hearing, the enrichment available from trying on the perspectives of others.

God provides. Providence is one of God’s names.

We take credit for our own gifts, ingenuity, and hard work. We limit God by our lack of faith. We ignore divine guidance and take unnecessary detours. We wait around for spiritual welfare handouts instead of taking guided action.

God forgives.

We decline the offer.

God never sleeps.

We say God is dead.

By the way, this will be posted on a Sunday, which I celebrate as the sabbath: glorious sabbath, our weekly sabbatical, day of rest and divine restoration! I rely on it to renew me, and always have. My student days proved that I get more done in six days than in seven. And studies show that everyone needs a weekly day off, whether or not one is a worshiping soul. So I’m not really here, and I’m not going to blog on Sundays. If you’re looking for God, you might start with that one practice: honoring the sabbath. It’s one of the original non-negotiable 10 Commandments for a reason. If your faith celebrates your sabbath another day, I salute you; go ahead and skip my blog on your sabbath, and catch up on mine!

I’d love to hear what you think God deserves more credit for. I was only getting started.

Text © Gwyn Nichols 2010

Photo © copyright Serdar Yagci, iStockPhoto #000005292716