The poem: ‘God Is a Wolf” was posted on September 20, 2017
We approach a poem like a detective approaches a crime scene, looking for clues. Discovery is in the details. The clues are found in the very carefully chosen words the poet offers. The words show us something; an image, an activity, a way of understanding.
The first clue is the title, God is a wolf and a wild one at that. Really? What Sunday school did the poet attend? Either the poet is joking or trying to say something beyond the usual platitudes about God. Let’s choose the second assumption.
This version of God is both intimate and dangerous. The invitation is delivered by a kiss, yet the person kissed must keep a safe distance. (Where have we heard ‘kiss’ in a God story?) In God’s enthusiasm to share the divine life God plays roughly with his human companion. God growls when the man wants to step back inside the box of accepted theological thought.
There is a gentler side to God as divinity and humanity move through the world full of curiosity and attention. Frolicking rabbits hide when the two come near. What truth scares them into apathy and concealment?
The human waits as God rests in a shadow. Why does God need to rest? Why would God require time in the dark? Perhaps to allow the divine unconsciousness feed and refresh the conscious mind.
In church talk the word ‘worldliness’ has taken on a negative connotation. In this poem the word is positive. The wolf (God) is searching for the ‘true worldliness.’ ‘True worldliness’ not the artificial flash and bluster of manmade superficial distractions but the sensory beauty and deep complexity before us which arouses our senses, our emotions, and our minds.