Via Negativa

Christian Century, Jan 17, 2001

   Why no! I never thought other than
   That God is that great absence
   In our lives, the empty silence
   Within, the place where we go
   Seeking, not in hope to
   Arrive or find. He keeps the interstices
   In our knowledge, the darkness
   Between stars. His are the echoes
   We follow, the footprints he has just
   Left. We put our hands in
   His side hoping to find
   It warm. We look at people
   and places as though he had looked
   At them, too; but miss the reflection.