Bigger Than a Birthday Cake

"Bigger Than a Birthday Cake"

a poem

Bigger than a birthday cake,
bigger than a zebra,
bigger than a pine tree,
bigger than a city,
bigger than a mountain,
bigger than an ocean,
bigger than a planet,
bigger than a galaxy,
bigger than the universe,
bigger than forever -
that’s how big God is.

God can do anything -
turn stars to snow,
teach fish to read,
coat rocks with fur,
make bubbles sing,
if God wants,
because there's nothing God can't do.

God is everywhere:
beyond the sky,
inside a cave,
behind a smile,
the same God,
the only God,
the God named I am,
because there’s nothing God can’t do.

One day long ago, God,
the God who’s bigger than forever,
became small -
smaller than the universe,
smaller than a galaxy,
smaller than a planet,
smaller than an ocean,
smaller than a mountain,
smaller than a city,
smaller than a pine tree,
smaller than a zebra,
smaller than a birthday cake.

And God, who can do anything,
had a birthday.
God, who had a name, I Am,
got another name, Jesus.
God, newborn, sleeping in a food bowl,
met us face-to-face.
God, who can do anything,
grew teeny,
looked like us,
lived with us,
because God, who can do anything,
wanted us to want God.

Right now, this minute,
God is here, still here, the same God,
big, small, invisible as wind,
God who stays,
who holds our hands,
who lets us ride God’s shoulders,
God, who has a name, I Am,
and another name, Jesus,
and another name, Spirit,
God who never leaves.

That’s how God is -
everywhere at once,
watching, touching, loving,
bigger than forever,
smaller than a birthday cake,
closer than a whisper,
all at the same time.