CAUGHT IN THE
JAWS
OF THE TIGER
At first, God’s visits seem so welcome.
She brings tea and cookies and loves you
so sweetly inside your own heart.
You keep inviting her back
by your prayers and meditations,
imagining you have found the one you always wanted
who will hold you on her endless lap
and take away your pain forever.
But pretty soon, she starts arriving unexpectedly,
at odd hours of the day and night,
and every time she comes,
she takes something away—
a pretty picture here, a bookcase there,
maybe even some trash
in your basement.
But at some point, it occurs to you
she intends to move in completely.
And now the mind starts backing up:
“Perhaps you could come back another day,
after I’ve worked on my house,
after I’ve bought nicer furniture,
after I’ve finished my fight with evil,
after I’ve planted a peace garden.”1