General (Vol. 2)

Exploring Theodicy And Dorothy Soelle

Part i.

  1. God is our hands; He cannot serve
    Unless we are his real estate.
    We are His means to save the world
    From its own cruelty and hate.
  2. But love is thin without free will
    To give it in its richest form,
    The brave defender of the weak,
    The firm, small voice against the storm.
  3. Such will directed against God
    Wounds Him and scars humanity:
    He weeps beside us as we weep,
    Renewed each time in Calvary.
  4. Though God enshrines immortal power
    His paradox is suffering,
    The servant who washed peasants' feet,
    The crown of thorns that made Him king.
  5. Such pain as we inflict on Him,
    Weakens His mission to redeem,
    She did not turn the nozzle on;
    She was the prayer and the scream.
  6. The God of men may reign in power,
    Judge, overcome and penetrate,
    But He is mirrored in the Cross,
    The victim, Her divided state.

Part ii.

 

  1. God walks to Calvary each day
    Bearing our sinful cross;
    Her Sacred and compassionate heart
    Strives to redeem our loss.
  2. She lives in squalor and defeat,
    She weeps with the oppressed,
    She is the first one to be 'cleansed',
    The last to take Her rest.
  3. Eternal victim of the gift
    Of freedom He conferred,
    We are the only means by which
    The world can know Your Word:
  4. Yet we have turned Your love to hate
    And test Your will to stay;
    But Your abiding Cross confirms
    You will not walk away.

Part iii.

 

  1. God of all power who reigns on high
    But wept when His Chosen People erred,
    Who sent His own Son to seal the pact
    Whose promise of love first Adam heard.
  2. Would such a God whose Son was killed,
    Who sent the Spirit to our side,
    Abandon those who suffer from
    Famine, torture and genocide?
  3. In seeing the all powerful God
    As pattern for the male estate
    We have overlooked the female 'side'
    The patient and compassionate.
  4. O Virgin Mother, you most know
    The godliness of womanhood,
    Help us to listen to Your Son
    And see the womanhood in God.

Part iv.

 

  1. We have abandoned suffering
    As tribute to Our Lord
    And hope that mildness will suffice
    To spread His Holy Word.
  2. Our heritage is blood and pain
    - Jesus inspired the martyrs' band -
    Yet we behave, as if secured,
    God only needs a helping hand.
  3. We read of dying for our friends
    And watch the slaughter on the news
    But this is far from our domain,
    From what we are required to choose.
  4. Though Jaweh was a violent soul,
    Jesus restored a sense of peace,
    His sacrifice upon the Cross
    Gave us our safety and release.
  5. Yet we are swamped in suffering,
    Most where we should agree to act
    Strong in the Jesus who would not
    Retreat, retaliate or retract.
  6. If we believe that nothing gained
    Is worthy without personal pain,
    We must prepare to meet Our Lord,
    With suffering as a part of gain.