amos the churchmouse: putting god in a box

amos the churchmouse:

a view from under the pew

Editor's note: Amos is a churchmouse, who types by hopping on the computer keyboard, but he can't operate the capital shift, and he shuns punctuation marks – except hyphens and dashes.

putting god in a box

the other day boss i saw

the strangest sight i saw

billy bob bee trapped in a

perforated glass box

you remember billy bob

bee don tcha boss he s

the obnoxious overzealous

buzzy bee who wants to

control everybody and

everything

whatcha doin in there

says me to billy bob bee

choppin down a tree

says he to me whaddya

think i m doing in here

i m trying to buzz my

way clear

how d you get in such a

predicament says me

without much feeling or

sentiment

i was attracted by the

glint and the gleam

but when i flew by it

it sucked me in through

a holey seam

maybe god has a purpose

for your being in this box

says me playing the role

of a fox

no never says he why would

god want me under lock

and key no god doesn t work

that way he s loving and would

never cause this melee

then boss i remembered how

many other times billy bob

bee had uttered that phrase

- no god doesn t work that way -

like when we were studying

the book of jonah and billy bob

said god couldn t work that way

by hurling a storm on the sea

and causing a big fish to swallow

poor jonah before he could flee

or when we were studying

another prophet - hosea -

whom god told to marry one

day a woman named gomer

a prostitute on the streets

and billy bob bee said that

couldn t be god wouldn t

command such a ridiculous feat

there were other things boss

that billy bob bee said that god

couldn t or wouldn t allow to be

i guess he had god figured out

as to how and who he should be

billy bob bee

says me to he

have you ever thought

that god is teaching you

an analogy by having you

buzz around in a

clear glass canopy

whaddya mean says he

god loves me and wouldn t

do this to a nice guy like me

maybe god is showing you

how it feels to be confined

by the thoughts and boundaries

of someone s mind

you keep god in your own

little box so maybe he wanted

to return the favor - show you

what life is like being chained

to the docks

you know you may be right says

he to me i hadn t thought about

it like that before

and so he thought about it and

thought about it he sat and

sat on the perforated floor -

until - whoosh - out through a

perforated hole he flew

and now boss billy bob bee

buzzes around with a whole

new concept of deity

amos