by Bob Harwood

You can't hide from me now, God,
Because I've seen through all of your disguises.

I admit, you used to fool me,
By lying around on the grass like dew,
Or dropping off the trees like autumn leaves,
Or brushing past me on a crowded sidewalk
Dressed up like an important person.

In the past I often mistook the touch of a brushed sleeve,
For the touch of a brushed sleeve,
Or the chattering of squirrels,
For the chattering of squirrels,
Or trash lying on the side of a road
For trash lying on the side of a road.

Nevertheless, I never stopped trying to find you,
And every so often I'd catch a glimpse of something,
Like the momentary flash of a fish's fins
Under the surface of a sunlit stream.

I kept looking for you, God,
Because I knew that things couldn't be the way they seemed to be
And that something huge was hiding in the details.

You must have felt sorry for me,
Watching me search in all the wrong places,
But finally, you rang a telephone to get my attention.
And in that ringing I forgot everything I knew.

When you revealed yourself,
The sight of you was so mysterious that only you could handle the seeing of it.

After that day, even though I couldn't always see you,
I knew where you were,
And I waited patiently for you to give more of yourself away.

Finally my persistence paid off,
And I saw through all your disguises.
Now, the jig's up, God,
Because everywhere I look
You are all that I see.

There's no need to waste anymore time
Trying to act as if you were other people,
Or howling around as if you were the wind,
Or playing at insects, elephants, and stars.

It was a good joke, God,
But I see you now,
And I'll never let you out of my sight again.

My eyes are glued to you,
But if my sight ever fails, then I'll worship the sound of you,
And if my hearing ever fails, then I'll worship the feel of you,
And if all of my other senses fail, then I'll worship the memory of you.

I'm sorry to spoil your fun, God,
But if you ever want to play hide and seek with me again,
You'll have to make me forget to remember.