The Restory Retreat Centre

“We give God a name.  We then equate God with the name we have given him,  and in doing so we make ourselves, in effect, God’s God.  Instead of acknowledging God as the source of our identity and existence,  we make ourselves the self-proclaimed source of God’s identity.  God then becomes the one made in our image and likeness. Those engaged in the undertaking of naming God  see themselves as participating in a holy work.  They are the God-definers, the definition makers.”                                                                                                              -    James Finley Wat ek hier skryf volg na aanleiding van 'n vorige bloginskrywing (Sien If God would go on a Sick Leave: A Poem of Peace ) 'n Kort uiteensetting van my belewenis van die gedig: Jerusalem is die stad waar die 3 groot monoteïstiese godsdienste, Judaïsme, Christendom en Islam deur die geskiedenis en geloofsoortuigings op een plek bymekaargebring

Jerusalem Nowhere is there more prayer. The Nuns at the Holy Sepulchre. The faithful at Al Aqsa Mosque. The worshippers at the Wall. The call to prayer at dawn and dusk Warbling from the citadels. The church bells, The Persian trills, The passion spilled over texts From every major/minor religious sect. Nowhere is there more prayer than Jerusalem, Thanks be to God, Hamdilala, Baruch Hashem. And yet, I'm starting to think that it's You and not them, God, what's the point of prayer? If there's nowhere where There's more prayer, And terror reigns Then, Who's to blame? If suddenly, without a whisper goodbye, Jesus, Allah, Adonai, The three men they admire most All took the last train for the coast, And the Moslems got up from their knees And the Christians put down their rosaries And the Jews stayed their hands from kissing Their mezuzahs, And everyone looked up, And realized something's missing... God is missing. Stop