What does the universe say?

On my facebook profile, I recently saw a quote that I had put up that got me thinking again... like I was looking at it through fresh eyes .

A man said to the universe: 'Sir, I exist!' 'However,' replied the universe. 'The fact has not created in me a sense of obligation.'
-Stephan Crane

That quote has been on my profile since my time at North Georgia. I've frequently revised my profile and the quote has often made the cut without much thought from me. Now I'm ready to overthink the quote.

I've mentioned before that in the beginning of my college career I was leaving the Southern Baptist fold. I probably would have made an awesome deist. I read this quote for the first time in Todd Campbell's English 102 course, my second semester at NGCSU, and it resonated very deeply with me. There was a sense that God's work could not be found on Earth in the Church, that Christians had gotten something profoundly wrong. I appreciated that this quote acknowledged that there was some universal consciousness that could be engaged. The poem would have been rather short otherwise..

A man said to the universe: 'Sir, I exist!' The nearby cow looked at him oddly and the sky was silent.

Well, I have no pretension to being a poet, but you perhaps get the drift.

Anyway, it seemed to fit with my own sense of the divine at the time that there was some sort of universal consciousness that could be credited with the mecanisms of the universe, who then stepped away to not interfere with all of the laws necessary to keep the universe running. The quote also seemed to fit with my feeling that, since we are on our own, perhaps acknowledging the universe would be fine, but there isn't much point in a long conversation. "Gee, universe, it'd be nice to pass this test." The universe does not feel obligated. I also didn't want to impose on the universe.

Tonight, after five years of life and the beginning of a formal process of discerning , I feel like I can jettison the quote. It no longer captures the complexity of my concept of the universe/God. Yet it still has merit as a succinct expression of a particular type of theodicy that shaped my views about where God is in my life. Others more ably than I have summarized the problem of evil and where that leaves God (see, for instance, Eric Reitan's Is God a Delusion?) I'll not go into it here.

How do I now rewrite this quote to match my present view? When I affirm my existence to God, what do I hear? What do I see? I look at Matthew 25:34-40 : Feed the hungry, visit the sick and the prisoners, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked. I look at Galatians 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free , there is neither male nor female; for we are all one in Christ Jesus (absolutely no exceptions). Through the mess of human history, I see the long arc of justice that is present, the Kingdom of Heaven that is at hand, ready to be realized, not merely awaited. I listen to the people of God who want to realize this vision. A very influential friend made the point that God will do what God does, we only need show up and realize the possibility. We may be all God has got to count on... when he improvises, will you be ready to be his instrument? Cornel West's voice spins in my mind asking me, personally, "How deep is your love? What is the quality of your service to others?"

It is not merely enough to exist; the universe, God, makes a claim on our talents.