October 2nd

“My people consult a piece of wood, and their divining rod gives them oracles.” Hosea 4:12a

back then,
it was a piece of wood,
a stone, a statue of gold or silver,
while today
it is a celebrity, that headline,
maybe a poll, or that glowing screen—
all voices telling us exactly
what we already long to hear.
we ask these modern divining rods
for answers and then wonder
why we cannot hear God.
so maybe that old prophet
would advise us
to mute the anger,
to power down the device,
to quit asking the world
to tell us who we are,
and turn to the One
who does not need
to be programmed,
carved, sculpted, molded,
or supersized—
the God who speaks
in the voices of the forgotten
the God who sits
in the mess with us,
the God who refuses
to turn away from us,
the heart who always
loves us.

© 2026 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman