by Mark Stucky

We asked our preschooler to pray,
and with dinner plates before us
and our hands folded,
he paused in silence
and then roared in imitation
of a wounded, angry dinosaur.
We all laughed at the incongruous “prayer”
from the tiny portrayal of a monstrous T-Rex,
but was the inadvertent theology
as inappropriate as first thought?

Religious roars of pain and anger
permeate the book of Job,
the story of an exemplary man
wounded by undeserved catastrophes.
In anger, Job roared at judgmental comforters.
In anguish, he roared at the world and at God.
And God roared back from a whirlwind
and later restored Job’s many blessings.

When wounded by anguish or anger
and longing for or fearing death,
good therapy is roaring at God
and baring one’s soul’s darkest depths,
for God, through crucifixion, felt our pain
and God, through resurrection, roared good news
that monstrous Death dies defeated.
And God will wipe away our tears
at the final end of earthly evil’s roaring
and the new beginning of celestial singing.

Mark D. Stucky has degrees in religious studies, pastoral ministry, and communications. After being a pastor, he became a technical and freelance writer. In his day job, he’s documented technology products (ranging from building automation to satellite communications). In free time, he’s written articles, stories, and poems on a variety of (usually spiritual) topics. He believes in following facts and faith, understanding other perspectives, preserving the earth, protecting the vulnerable, and saving the world (or at least trying to). For more writings, see cinemaspirit.info.