Pity for a Loving God
PITY FOR A LOVING GOD
It must be extraordinarily painful to be a loving God.
Omniscience would be a terrible burden, I think.
Imagine being forced to know without asking
all of the possible futures of each and every one of us,
all the maybes and would haves and could haves,
piled up on top of each other.
Ponder how a God must feel, watching you come home on Tuesday,
wondering what was for dinner, planning your weekend,
content with your lot in life, a busy, productive day at the office,
blissfully unaware of what your life might have been like.
If you had gone to a different school, in a different state,
you might have met a woman on that other campus
whose perceptions and intellect surpassed your wildest expectations
and thrilled you every day with new and scintillating insights.
Ponder how a God must feel, watching you come home on Tuesday,
wondering what was for dinner, planning your weekend,
content with your lot in life, a busy, productive day at the office,
blissfully unaware of what your life might have been like.
If you had gone to a different school, in a different state,
you might have met a woman on that other campus
whose perceptions and intellect surpassed your wildest expectations
and thrilled you every day with new and scintillating insights.
The love of your life, reduced to a missed opportunity.
And think how a loving God would feel, forced to know
that another man that woman might have found to marry
would have pleased and comforted her more
than it will ever be possible for you to do, no matter what.
Had you moved across the country, you might have met a friend
whose knowledge and insight into art fired a passion in you,
leading your life down another path,
And think how a loving God would feel, forced to know
that another man that woman might have found to marry
would have pleased and comforted her more
than it will ever be possible for you to do, no matter what.
Had you moved across the country, you might have met a friend
whose knowledge and insight into art fired a passion in you,
leading your life down another path,
a path vastly more satisfying than this.
How such knowledge must vex a loving Almighty.
The differences between what is and what might have been,
multiplied by the billions of souls under His charge,
each life reflected upon His thoughts in infinite variety,
the curse of free will making bad choices the ones that must stand.
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©2009 Christopher Reilley
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