By Al Staggs

(previously published in A Pilgrim in Rome: Cries of Dissent)

And God came to us

in our own time,

but we could not behold his image

for our eyes were blinded

by the culture that had taught

and convinced us

that we are the chosen people.

We could not hear God’s message

because it came wrapped

in black, red, brown

and yellow skin

and spoke in a different accent

from our own familiar one.

We were deaf to truth,

those of us who suffered

from the great delusion

that we are the only true bearers of

God’s word and knowledge.

We never understood

that God was speaking to us

and not through us.