January 8th

“He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the LORD, saying, ‘Is the LORD among us or not?’” Exodus 17:7

those ancestors were good role models.
our throats are a wilderness
named ‘Is God here?’
where we continue to toss
questions – rhetorical as well as trick –
at you every chance we get.
our tongues are dust, but
we will rail against the sky
with every breath.
our lives are like cracked jars,
which cannot hold the clear
waters of faith poured into us—
yet, you do not walk away.
wounded by our thirst for answers,
listening as doubt hones questions
against the whetstone of tomorrow,
you step into our arguments,
striking mercy, not sparks, from rock
and transforming gripes into cups.
may we learn to trust
the spring beneath our questions,
to hear grace flowing, even
as we ask,
‘are you with us, or not?’

© 2026 Thom M. Shuman

+Venmo: @Thom-Shuman