If your god is relegated to conscience
that little voice in your head
trained to speak
at the wave of your experience
your god is too small for me
If your god is only a projection
of the distant father in your living room
who abused and neglected you
when a father
was more important than food
or shelter
your god is too small for me
If your god failed you
by not doing what you thought he ought.
If your god is designed for your convenience
a prop for your comfort
your god is too small for me
If your god is a white-haired old man
who is more old fashioned than old-age
If your god is historically respected
but defective
in your current complexity
your god is too small for me
If your god is less meek and more mild
piled with placid temperament
un inspired un moved un intentional
If your god’s emotional capacity for compassion
is less than yours
your god is too small for me
If your god calls you to comfort
safe for the whole family
always “come unto me”
but never
“go out in my name”
your god is too small for me
If your god has never flushed your face
and stolen your words
with waves of open ocean
or mountains that mouse your vocabulary
If your god does not leave you in awe
of amazing grace so unbalanced
you clamber to conceive it
your god is too small for me
If your god abides by your contracts
a pact to protect your formulas
a god who upholds
your cold contingencies
If your god only works
through the cogs of machinery you have manufactured
for a factory of formulas to faith
your god is too small for me
If your god is white, middle-class, republican
if your god is Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, or Catholic
Pentecostal, Lutheran, or non-demonational
your god is too small for me
If your God created you in his image
and you returned the favor
your god is too small for me
Whatever god it is you know so much about
to comprehend or contain
is too small for me
Because
My God
is too big for you
My God is not contained in bullet-points
pressed on a page by those
arrogant enough to think they could grasp Him.
My God is too big for you
If you are searching for a god
small enough to see, tiny enough to taste
or touch with trust displaced
If your soul is not sandbagged
or beautifully nagged
by a God who
won’t stop
calling your name
my God is too big for you
If you do not praise your god
for poetry, music, and art
a baby’s smile or a full coffee-cart;
for brazen horizons and seas
a resounding storm or tender breeze
If your god does not leave you in love
with beauty that makes your soul
scream, “THIS is what life should be”
my God is too big for you
If you are searching for a god you can wrangle
like a mustang with a rope made of frayed twine
and managed reason
If you need a being who will obey your beckon
to submit to your five senses
and incomprehensive pretenses
then this poem is too big for you
my God is too big for you