*
Not on the Throne, Thank God
By Jane Tawel
November 7, 2026
*
I know you believe when you say,
that you are okay,
as long as “God is on His Throne”,
that somehow you have won a point,
and we should be at peace.
And if this gives you some release
To accept the changes that the world
will always bring, as long as we keep shoring up
Our distant gods,
Then I understand you need to put your faith in something
Other than your neighbor
Other than love.
Humans love a good power-trip
So why not keep God on one?
*
And I don’t say it to you,
For you are free to find your solace
when and how you seek it.
But — just know — for me —
If God is “still on His throne”,
He is no earthly use to us right here.
And I think there is nothing God enjoys more
(because I know I do)
than being of use.
I like to think, God likes to be helpful.
*
And I can’t help asking
why would God want to be on His throne
when there is this beautiful world to live in?
This holy, lovely planet that He created?
Would a true God not want to
Live and breathe and move and have Her being
in that which She has birthed?
To live in? to play in? to work in? to rest in?
To breathe in?
Wouldn’t a throne get rather boring compared to that?
*
I know you will argue that you are using a powerful metaphor
(even though you are a literalist).
And I will hold safely in love
your fears of what God may be.
Because I have “been there, done that”.
And there are still so many sleepless nights,
When I still ask myself: “Where is God?”
And I guess that is maybe when I wonder
if He is sitting on His hands somewhere
on that throne you talk about.
*
You will claim, I know,
that I take everything too seriously,
to an extreme.
But isn’t the God we both think we believe in,
A very extreme sort of God?
*
I know that when you calm your fears of “the other”
with the doctrines of a Macho-god, a Patriarch,
a God still ruling like a king from somewhere else,
that you are shutting down the conversation.
Somehow we lost the God who is a Mother,
the One that Isaiah promised would comfort us
at Her breast,
the One who longs to gather us
like a Mother Hen gathers her chicks.
I know a Mothering God terrifies you
because to think that God loves everyone,
that everyone is Her beloved child,
(loving like mothers love all their children,
even the naughty ones, from womb to tomb);
to think that God is available here and now
just Love, only Love, All Love,
to think that We are His Kingdom —
a Kingdom of Love, only Love, All Love —
our bodies, our minds, our hearts, our souls —
as we were told we are –
well, that takes all the onus off of God,
and puts it smack dab on us.
*
What I see is that you are using an excuse.
(Don’t feel I am accusing — we all have our excuses.)
But it’s just the throne thing
isn’t working for me any more
with all the wanna’ be kings we have today
raping and pillaging our world right now and here.
I don’t believe all the stories you read about God
Are straight from the Horse’s mouth.
I think we messed up when we didn’t let
Books be books,
And God be God.
But I do believe the one about
The God who never wanted his people to have
Rulers or kings.
And I do believe the one about the Son of Man
Who would not be a king
Except in God’s Kingdom of Love and only Love.
So I’m done with the whole power and thrones and king stuff.
It’s no fun any more.
*
You see, the bottom line for me is,
if we keep God somewhere else
sitting stoically on a throne,
We do not have to let Him live
in us — in our own hands
and feet and mind and words and heart.
With God sitting around twiddling His thumbs
Enjoying the power of doing nothing,
We do not have to forgive,
To give,
To share,
To love
Love even our enemies — well,
there won’t actually be any more enemies.
Then what would we do with all our time and energy?
Be at peace? Love everyone?
Enjoy what we have in this moment? Share what we don’t need?
Be born again?
Live in a Kingdom on Earth something like
we keep thinking God is living in
somewhere out there in Heaven?
*
I like the God who never sat on a throne,
Never wanted to (though tempted).
I like the God that wrestled skin to skin with Jacob
And made a wild and crazy bet with Job
And had a meal while laughing with Sarah and Abraham
And walked the enemy territory of Samaria
And touched an oozing leper,
And went on a short vacation to go fishing
And looked deeply at flowers and wine and bread
And said:
“It is good. It is very good.
And it is My blood and body,
Enjoy. Eat. Share.”
*
And I like the God who sometimes quiets
my monkey-mind of machinations
and like a small, weak Child, My God
snuggles up within my womb-soul
and He is not somewhere else,
but He is Here. And Now.
Alive. Moving. Pulsing.
Having His DNA coursing all through me
Through this world.
Playful. And helpful.
I think I am ready to love
A God Who so very much loves us
that She resides with us,
that He is born over and over and over
in us.
A God who is not elsewhere but
Who lives and loves and Is —
In me.
*
© Jane Tawel, 2026
