On God, Tightropes, and Wheelbarrows
\nBy
\nJoseph Anthony Petro<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
There\u2019s this old story still going around
\nAbout a tightrope walker pushing a man
\nIn a wheelbarrow across a tightrope
\nSuspended over Niagara Falls.
\nThe story is supposed to illustrate
\nHow we, if we truly have faith in God,
\nNeed to get in the wheelbarrow
\nAnd allow ourselves to be pushed
\nAcross the tightrope in the wheelbarrow.
\nBelief is thinking the tightrope walker can do it,
\nFaith is getting in the wheelbarrow.
\nOf course we\u2019re all supposed to say:
\n\u201cWell, that sounds hard, but yes, I\u2019ll do it.
\nI want that kind of surrender-faith.\u201d
\nMay I give you my slant on this whole idea
\nOf wheelbarrows and tightropes, and Gods
\nThat want us to do this sort of thing?
\nAny God that requires someone
\nTo get in a wheelbarrow on a tightrope
\nAnd be pushed across, is not God.
\nAny God that tells Abraham to tie
\nHis son to a rock and sacrifice him
\nIs not God. If he is, then join me up
\nWith the local Atheist Society.
\nMy God, works on the ground,
\nIn a garden, on a bright, spring day.
\nMy God doesn\u2019t need me
\nTo prove anything to him
\nOr anyone else. My God
\nIsn\u2019t a performer of feats
\nOf audacity and sheer stupidity.
\nMy God\u2019s on the ground, working
\nIn a garden, and one day (every day) says to me:
\n\u201cHey there, want a ride in the wheelbarrow?\u201d
\nAnd I am free to get in or not. My faith
\nIs not tested one bit regardless
\nOf my answer. If I want to stay out of the wheelbarrow
\nThat\u2019s fine, I can putz around the garden
\nAll day, all life, looking for bugs and rocks and other treasures,
\nAnd God will just wave every now and then
\nAs he goes by and I can go over and show him
\nThe praying mantis I found and he\u2019ll say,
\n\u201cWow, that\u2019s really cool. Now let it go.\u201d
\nBut for the sake of this discussion, let\u2019s say I get in,
\nAnd God begins pushing the wheelbarrow,
\nAnd it\u2019s still got a little dirt in it and I like that,
\nAnd the sides are hard and cold as I hold on tight,
\nAnd I like that too, it feels safe and solid,
\nAnd God pushes, slowly at first, but then
\nPicks up a little speed, and is soon
\nDashing along the border of the garden
\nAnd the wind is blowing through my hair,
\nAnd I am laughing, and a kid again\u2014
\nA kid the whole time, forever, in a wheelbarrow.
\nAnd maybe God keeps walking–slows
\nTo a steady gate, and I drift to sleep,
\nAnd God, being God, just keeps walking
\nAnd pushing the wheelbarrow,
\nAnd whenever I choose, he stops,
\nLets me push, and maybe even,
\nOn real, heretical days, gets in himself
\nLets me push, or at very least, give other people,
\nOther kids, rides around the garden.
\nOr maybe he gets in, and because he\u2019s God
\nCan make the wheelbarrow go without
\nAnyone pushing it, and so we can both
\nRide together, and I can allow myself
\nTo sink into his arms as the wheelbarrow
\nSails across the field, and I can stick my hands out
\nAnd brush the tall, passing grass, or the nodding
\nSunflowers, and maybe the wheelbarrow can
\nGrow and grow and grow and fit
\nAs many kids as want to get in.
\nThat all sounds much better to me,
\nThan getting in a wheelbarrow, on a tightrope,
\nOver Niagara Falls, and being pushed across.<\/p>\n
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