A Little Story

They stood at the edge, all of them this time, staring at Him, in awe, in wonder, in pain, and asked, "Why?" This is not the why of a mother, who lost her child, or the why of a grieving lover, or even the why of a dying man before his last breath, but the why of mankind lost, the why of mankind hopeless, and He answered:

When I lay dying on the cross, you watched, in pain, in horror perhaps, but you watched, what did you learn? Perhaps many things to pass down in words, that became no more than words recited in many different tongues, in many different ways not but lived? Did you live those words? No, you did not. And how many chances did you have to act, how many chances did you have to change? Do you remember the greatest sins?

You have ears, but refuse to hear, and you have eyes but refuse to see? You learned nothing. You learned nothing through plagues. You learned nothing through holocausts. You have learned nothing through every suffering body that I have inhabited since the cross, you chose not to see, you have decided that you are not your brother's keeper, you are selfish, you limit love by how it limits you. I hear not your cries for you heed neither my works, nor my suffering, my love does not touch you, do not ask now why God has forsaken you, ask why you have forsaken God. Should this Day of Judgment come? Is there a need for these admonitions? Look around you, look within your hearts - covered with indifference. Were I to say that I grant you one more chance, what would you then do? I tell you now, that you would forget this moment and go back to your selfish petty lives.

You would continue to praise my name, not for my words, but for my appearance. I am the homeless man on the street that you walk over. I am the AIDS victim that you scorn. I am the innocent mother and child who is murdered because I was there when you dropped a bomb. I am the child who is aborted by a mother only because you refuse to get involved and give help. Instead, you picket; you make noise, but do not inconvenience your lives to save me, to nurture me, to welcome me into your own home. When you turn away from the earth, for greed, you turn away from me, when you turn away from the hungry; you turn away from me. I am not only Love, but I am those who need love. I am not a religion – I am the Word. I am the Life that the Father has breathed into every living creature on the earth. I am the Blood that runs through the veins, and the heart that beats with the sounds of life in all beings. I am neither to be worshipped, nor to be preached. I am to be lived – as I lived and died for you. Why should you be saved? When I said on the cross, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do", I sought forgiveness for your ignorance - that ignorance, is a luxury, that you no longer have.

There is enough food on this planet for all to be fed. There is enough money on this planet for all to have shelter and abundance. Why is there starvation? Why is there hunger? Surely, it is not because God does not give. It is because no sooner can God provide than the greedy consume. What do you need? How can you measure your worth by the money in the bank, the millions that you may amass? Do you know what you are amassing?

It is not money that you amass, no, it is the bodies of the starving children, for whom that money was intended by God to feed. Perhaps if poverty were as visible to you, as it is to God, it would cause you as much pain as it does Him. Yet, you move to neighborhoods where you do not have to see, and where you do not have to hear. God does not have that luxury. In Gods neighborhood, all suffering is seen, and all cries are heard. How much is enough for you? No one deserves more than another does; no one earns more than another in the eyes of the Lord. There is no extra until not one child goes hungry. Keep your money in your bank, and keep your time for yourself, but do not look to God to cure the ills of your world. The only ill in your world is your greed.

There will not be salvation for you until you stop blaming, stop judging, and begin pointing the finger at yourselves. Search within for the courage to Love at any cost, to accept that yes, you are not only your brothers keeper, but you are your brother, for your brother and you are God.

Save yourselves, save your souls for this day will surely come, and not by God's doing, but by your own. Remember it is easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Do as you choose, this is the planet of choice, but take responsibility for what you do. Fool yourself, but do not try to fool the Lord. God created man in His own image, stop trying to recreate God in yours.