The Only God That's Good is Global

God, whatever it is, has gotta be global. The local version of divine that is limited to borders and beliefs is old news and no longer serves our shared humanity. We must evolve.

For thousands of years our ancestors have imagined the divine in multiple forms - for some a tribal warrior with local concerns and priorities, for others a universal power, shared by all, for all.  The Hebrew legacy consists of all these metaphors and many more. So how did we get stuck with a god of vengeance? How did the warrior become our icon and not the mother of peace? 

Both and more images of the divine mystery exist in our tradition. And it’s on us to claim the divine voice we want to live by and to lift up - for the sake of life, and love, and hope. 

I’m in Jerusalem this week, the battle cries and horror tangible each day and every moment, as thick as the summer heat. Every day is more death, and no hope. 

How do we move on from here? 

As I read the Psalms this week I find the face of God inside the silence and the meditation, as the god of battle - but also, as the god of everybody, the divine gift of a global consciousness that now, more than ever, must be the metaphor for mystery we need to embrace. 

Psalm 68, perhaps our oldest, is a battle hymn, where YHWH, and by other names, is the God of War.  It’s as old as human wars and yes, sometimes we need those too, and fighting for justice is a noble cause. And yet what happens when the war becomes the holy thing itself? 

But Psalm 67 includes another image of collective divinity: 

יוֹד֖וּךָ עַמִּ֥ים ׀ אֱלֹהִ֑ים י֝וֹד֗וּךָ עַמִּ֥ים כֻּלָּֽם׃

אֶ֭רֶץ נָתְנָ֣ה יְבוּלָ֑הּ יְ֝בָרְכֵ֗נוּ אֱלֹהִ֥ים אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ׃ יְבָרְכֵ֥נוּ אֱלֹהִ֑ים וְיִֽירְא֥וּ א֝וֹת֗וֹ כל־אַפְסֵי־אָֽרֶץ

The peoples will praise You, O God;

all peoples will praise You.

May the earth yield its produce;

may God, our God, bless us.

׃May God bless us,

and be revered to the ends of the earth.

Ps. 67:6-8

Why is it so hard for us to remember this version of the divine? The one all people bless together? Beyond the border  wars and ethnic differences, national and religious dogmas -- it’s one earth, one home, and one shared destiny. Why is it so hard for humans to remember and to live this truth? 

I pray today, from Jerusalem, that we remember. That we walk this ancient talk and look each other in the eye, with humble care and with contrition. May we live to see much better days, and celebrate the mystery of life, the gifts of peace - together.  Maybe this sacred poetry will help us lift up faith and trust in better days. What else will help us raise our eyes beyond, and rise above? 

Shabbat Shalom.