Thursday, June 28, 2007

God is a Sock.



When I first saw this picture that I randomly stumbled across online today, I laughed. Pretty heartily, too.

Then I noticed he has a bare foot. And it is very wet outside. And he is homeless. And I realized that he is right: God IS a sock.

God is the fulfillment of everything we've ever needed to be loved and home and safe and warm. In fact, I'd argue that God isn't just the fulfillment of those things- God is the very concept of Fulfillment.

To this guy, God is a sock. It is right for him to cry out, "Oh God, where are you now?" What is God to you? Where is God found? What do you need? Ask for it.

The Sufi poet Rumi says:

"The mouse soul is nothing but a nibbler.
To the mouse is given a mind proportionate to its need,
for without need the Almighty God
doesn't give anything to anyone.
Need, then, is the net for all things that exist:
man has tools in proportion to his need
So, quickly, increase your need, needy one,
that the sea of abundance may surge up in loving kindness."


My greatest hope is that somebody gave this guy a sock and in the sock and in the giving, God was found and met and known. It's important to recognize our role in allowing space for God. God is in our giving and our loving, because God is gift and love.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

My husband and I are setting up a sock drive for the homeless in Bend, Oregon. I was searching homeless and sock so that I could get ideas for the drive and came across your thoughtful blog. Would their be a possibility of using parts of your text in our church bulletin to advertise the sock? You say what I wanted to so well.

monsterpants said...

Oh man, I didn't see this comment until just now! I really hope you went ahead and used my text if you wanted to. I never check in on my blog anymore.

So cool to do a sock drive.
Hope it went well!

Unknown said...

You are all very nice people, and I envy your ethic to help those in need. But God does not exist. Sorry :(

monsterpants said...

i agree that whatever picture of god you are saying doesn't exist, does indeed NOT exist.

but just because god isn't a man in the clouds with a beard, and isn't a force governing our actions in any way and plotting out each day, doesn't mean we're not allowed to use the WORD god to describe the notions of love, compassion, and mercy that exist in the universe.

now, if you are saying you don't believe in such notions, then i am sorry for you.

i find it insanely odd that you would bother to comment on this blog post at all- it's super-duper old (in fact i haven't even posted a new entry on this blog since sept. 2007), plus if you just read it just a little more philosophically you would have realized i'm saying that god- if god is ANYthing- is a concept, not a being who's existence we can debate.

so- thanks for your "apologies" but they are unneccessary because we are on the same page about what you are saying does not exist.

thanks for saying i'm a nice person.