Faith@Ease

Does God require a login and password?

I returned today after a long absence to the meditational prayer Website of the Irish Jesuits known as “Sacred Space” http://www.sacredspace.ie, where I was surprised to learn that there was a problem with my username or password.

Then a spiritual quandary confronted me: Does God require a login and password when we come to pray? I suspect not. The sacrifices of God are a broken and contrite spirit, the scriptures say (Psalm 51:17).

So I guess the universal login for signing on with God is: brokenspirit; and the universal password must be: havemercy. And if the password must be unique or encrypted or something like that, we could make it haveJohn316mercy.

Not a bad password anywhere, I think; although, I’ve never particularly understood that verse’s popularity on placards at sporting events. Perhaps those placards should read “Jesus Saves,” a bit of graffiti that was a favorite of a young woman I knew growing up and one of the frequent signs in the Baptist church we attended.

But such public displays came to be a joke around New England when I was in college. The joke went like this: “Jesus saves–and Esposito slaps in the rebound!” Of course, it helped to appreciate the quip if one were a Boston Bruins fan–or at least a fan of ice hockey–and knew that Phil Esposito had a habit of hanging around in front of the goal and exploiting rebounds to become one of the game’s premier scorers.

The point of my whimsical meditation, of course, assures me that God’s Website encourages free access. By the way, it’s Jesus who slaps in life’s rebounds.