You and I

a poem by Stanley Moss

From the Poetry Foundation comes this beautiful poem that muses about the difference between the God of all and a small individual human. It is modeled on an anonymous 13th-century Hebrew poem and is published in Moss’s collection A History of Color: New and Collected Poems.

You are Jehovah, and I am a wanderer.
Who should have mercy on a wanderer if not Jehovah?

The exploration of our relationship with the Divine begins with an admission that we are wanderers, that we are (to be honest) stumbling around, frequently in the wrong direction, and often lost. I call myself a spiritual wanderer, and it is the truth. A cradle Episcopalian and former religious sister, I have studied and practiced other faiths and frequently been disappointed and wounded by the brokenness of humans. I know I have given disappointment and wounds to others as well, in my own brokenness. I hope the Divine One can have mercy on me, a wanderer.

You are All
and I am a particle. Who should have mercy
on a particle if not the All?

We are tiny when compared with all that is. The psalmist asks who are we, that the God of All would love us and treasure us. Some days I struggle to understand how God can love others. Some days I struggle to understand how God can love me.

You
are the Beginning and I am what follows.
Who should have mercy on what follows
if not the Beginning? You are the End and I am 
what follows. Who should have mercy
on what follows if not the End?

It is a lovely, beautiful poem. I hope you find fruit for reflection and contemplation within.