[Firstumemo] Memo: "God, the Harlot"

[Memos from Rev. Barbara Merritt and Rev. Tom Schade]

M I N I S T E R’ S  M E M O

“God, the Harlot”

There are (at least) three places that humanity has consistently looked for
God. First, within our own hearts, minds and souls (immanence.) Secondly, as
an overarching reality that embraces and holds all of creation
(transcendence.) Thirdly, God is defined as “wholly other,” as completely
beyond human comprehension, understanding or experience.

As accustomed as I am to the uniqueness of every person’s relationship with
what they define as “most holy,” I was stunned to read a line of poetry from
the 17th century Indian mystic, Paltu, “God is the harlot, plying her trade,
and God her customer.” While I have been raised-up as a Unitarian
Universalist unquestionly accepting “the dignity and worth of all persons,”
this was new information. God is fully present in the prostitute? God is
fully present in the desperate men who are her customers? This particular
location of the divine had escaped me, until I read Paltu.

His poem continues:
“God is the giver, and God is the beggar. God is the disciplined disciple,
detaching himself from the pleasures of the world. God is the sensualist who
throws himself wholeheartedly into the enjoyment of worldly pleasures. God
is the physician. God is the patient, getting herself cured. God is the
source of illusion. God reveals the truth.”

Reading these words, I feel my imagination being stretched almost to the
breaking point. Paltu confirms that the most high is found in traditional
theological categories. But that’s just a jumping-off place. He goes on to
say that this unfathomable power we call God is also to be found in the most
unlikely situations: in people we reject, in circumstances we can’t relate
to, in environments where we would never even think to look. He describes a
spaciousness, a challenging inclusiveness. The human brain has a definite
preference for boxing the infinite into familiar, comfortable categories.
Paltu will have none of that. He claims we need to look much higher, and
much lower. We must seek God in circumstances we might assume are not at all
conducive to prayer. We are always being invited to pay attention.

One of the great blessings we can offer one another is when a friend or
fellow traveler sees no grace, no help, no larger plan, no evidence of God’s
mercy. That is precisely the moment when a spiritual friend can help. When
we ourselves are blind, a companion can say, “I see evidence that you are
not alone, that you have not been abandoned. I see signs of hope. I see that
what you are going though is important, normal, and not the end of the
story. I see the strong possibility that not only will you survive, but that
you will thrive and flourish and come to know great joy.” Those of us with
only “partial sight,” who do not always know where we are going, need such
words of comfort.

Maybe that’s just another way of saying that we human beings need one
another. We have not been given the spiritual vision to live alone. Paltu
might very well have continued, “God is the one who makes the road ahead
seem dark and difficult. God is the one who provides the light and the
companions who will show you the way.” When we enter into this poetry, we
won’t have to worry about whether today we feel lost or found. Reality
itself will feel trustworthy.

       Barbara

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