God moves
in mysterious ways so they say.
Sometimes,
I suppose.
It seems though,
that God moves
in mostly material ways.
Earthly ways.
Ways inescapably tangible,
touchable, feelable,
if not always understandable.
We read symbols
that we call letters
arranged into words
that create meanings
in our mind.
A mind made up
of earthly materials—
mostly molecules
of water—
traveling through
a root system of axons
and dendrites
to neurons
to the gap of synapse
where most of life
happens
so it seems.
An average 3 pounds
of wrinkled fat and protein
housing consciousness.
A complexity and
potential power
surpassing anything
found in the cosmos
yet.
Despite the billions
of such brains that have
dotted our planet
they seem to be
a profoundly rare
and remarkable form
in the universe.
In many ways
still mysterious.
Yet made from
common materials
found on earth.
These materials
that make up our mind
are always rooted
in relationship
to earth.
Our home,
our ship,
our constant companion,
who not only
provides a place
of residence
of sustenance
of nurture
of challenge,
but of invention,
and art and elevation.
And most importantly
the expression
of that Word
called love
through family,
community,
and relationship
to earth
and divinity.
God made tangible—
to us,
through Jes-us
and all earthly things
from rock to tree
to mouse to bee
to you and me—
the Word
made from letters,
arranged.
Symbols.
The Word made flesh.
Material.
Love lived
among us.
It is only
through the material
the physical—
this relationship
with this precious earth—
that the
spiritual—
that which we perceive
as immaterial—
is made manifest.
Earth is our ticket
to heaven.
And heaven
is on earth
if we choose it.
Jay Griffith is an explorer of ideas and a facilitator of dialogue and relationships. He has served as chair of his community council and on the Utah Village Square and Living Room Conversation teams. Jay co-founded and manages a monthly discussion group, Faith Again, as well as co-facilitates its sister group, Think Again. By profession, Jay helps create and market brands, products, and services and has assisted various non-profits. Other passions include trail running, writing poetry, reading, creating, the arts, earth exploring, and earth stewardship. He has served in a Latter-Day Saint African Refugee Branch since 2016. He and his wife, Jane, live in Millcreek, Utah and are in affectionate familial relationship with three grown children, two daughters-in-law, one grandbaby, two cats, an old dog, and four chickens.
