Grand, majestic, far away 
in some fantastic realm 
of this never-ending universe – 
looking down 
watching the blunders, the fear-ridden hate 
waiting to smear it all away with one judgmental stroke – 

STOP IT!

Stop right now and look beside you – 
the clerk in the grocery store 
the politician you despise 
the screaming child next door who robbed you of sleep through the night 
the one you love with whom you can’t make things right – 
God is right there – 
waiting 
not to judge 
not to condemn 
but to be noticed – 
to be known 
to be welcomed into the home 
of your heart – 
not to judge 
or condemn  
or to smear it all away – 
but to love 
and to heal 
and to be seen and heard 
in the clerk 
in the politician 
in the child
in the one you love 
in your own heart – 
God is right here!