It is kind of you

It is kind of you to be gentle with me.
To speak slowly, in pictures and shadows,
That I might have time to understand.

It is kind of you to deal gently with these deaf ears,
For I hear only through the reverberation of thunderclaps.
And these blind eyes, they see only through the glances of pressed fingertips.

You speak so that I might not be consumed by knowledge too great for me to understand,
Too easy for me to misinterpret,
Sparing me from (mis)leading others,
Stumbling blindly down imprudent trails.

And so perhaps your whispers are a mercy,
Your echoes, a kindness.
Your back to me, a favor,
For who can see the Lord face to face and live?

Let me live Lord, to know you,
Slowly as I grow to meet you,
And turn your back to me if you must so that I might not be consumed.*

And someday perhaps you will speak to me as you spoke to Moses,
My face radiating the encounter of friends.

But until then, move me to know you as I am able,
And I will not begrudge the means---
The means of mercy.

It is kind of you to be gentle with me.
For it is better to live humbly in Mystery,
Than to tread unmercifully in certainty.*

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*Inspired by A Cry Like A Bell, Madeleine L'Engle

*Inspired by D. Willard, Hearing God, p.112

"...and it is well that this should be so. The spectacular encounters are obscure in their content and meaning, perhaps for our protection. In general, knowledge tends to be destructive when held by anything less than a mature personality thoroughly permeated by love and humility. That is true even in the secular areas of life. Few things are more terrifying in the spiritual arena than those who absolutely know but who are also unloving, hostile, proud, superstitious and fearful. That Aaron and Miriam could be jealous of Moses is a sure indication that God could not trust them with the kind of knowledge he shared freely with Moses."