Y'know, I've heard God slandered by His own people; I've heard Him mocked from the pulpit and debated in the halls of learning and sold like a vacuum-cleaner by traveling salesmen in crisp white shirts, salesmen from places like Salt Lake City, Utah and Bakersfield, California. Some people claim God is dead, some claim He's an absentee deity who built the universe brick-by-brick and then got bored and walked away; Some folks go so far as to say that God never existed at all but I say: God is far too present in the World. His shadow falls over everything and His scent lingers everywhere and there is no escaping Him. Sometimes I glance up and He's standing there regarding me over a cup of coffee, He might be wearing pressed slacks or he might be wearing filthy jeans but either way He's looking at me as if to say: "Do you get it?" The look on His face at these moments is intense and hopeful and arresting. I am transfixed by Gods compelling stare, I struggle for an answer. I stiffen and for a moment it seems as if I've been struck by a thought, God leans forward in anticipation and all the Angels in Heaven lean forward in anticipation and then I glance out the window and I see Death pacing back-and-forth in the parking-lot with His hands in His pockets and I look back at God and you can tell by the stupefied look on my face that I don't get it...