Father Poem by Diana van den Berg

You make all that is worthwhile
Available for us
Yet we turn away from it
So often
Or don’t see it in the first place.

You show us
The splendour of life
Amidst the squalor we create.

You do not laugh at us,
No matter how much
We laugh at You
And spurn You
And deride You.

You teach us,
Whatever we are willing to learn,
But only if we want
To be taught.

You are not a tyrant.
You do not allow, not disallow, infants to die.
We do that all by ourselves.
You give us completely free will
To do the good or bad
We want to do;
To declare as law and science
What we will
Whether we are right or not.

We argue,
Wage wars,
Kill
In Your name –
As if that is what You want!
We just don’t get it, do we?
You are not a master puppeteer.
You do not control us.
Yet, the funny thing is
That if you did,
We would complain
About that too!

We complain about
The repercussions
Of the very responsibility
Which we neither
Appreciate
Nor are prepared
To do without!

You do not force
Your will on us ever
(As we do on others)
And at all times,
In the joyous times,
In the boring times,
In the devastating times,
365¼/24/7,
You are there
Waiting in the wings,
No matter who we are
Nor what we have done,
Nor how our fellowman
Is disgusted at us
And hates us
And rejects us,
You love us all,
Prodigal or not,
Loving or not,
Law-abiding or not,
To welcome us into your arms
If only
We want
To be there.

You are patient
And will wait
For us
For as long as it takes
And if we reject you permanently
It makes you sad
But you don’t stop
Loving us.

You are all You describe as Love.
You are Love
In its very purest form.
You are
The Way
The Truth
And The Light.
You are
Our perfect Father.

Thanks, Dad, for everything.

(3 April 2011)