
So, god, I have a bone to pick with You.
You’re too enigmatic for my taste.
Your people say, “seek and ye shall find.”
(Matt 7:7, KJV)
But I haven’t been successful in finding You.
Do I not seek hard enough?
Do I not recognize Your face?
My mantra: “Like as a hart desireth waterbooks so longeth my soul for thee, O God.”
(Palestrina, Sicut Cervus)
Longing without satisfaction.
I’m so tired of dwelling outside of Your courts.
What is the key to entry?
I wish I knew.


Catherine Coates is the author of the books, Longing for Intimacy: Glimmers of Hope, and Like as a Hart: Poems to Quench Longing. She has also published a set of inspirational cards, Musings on Grace.
Her next book will be considerations of Jewish/Christian theological tenets which arose in her after spending time in a Christian cult.
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