I looked for you in the eyes of all the murdered migrants and in the eyes of the drowning children. I looked for you when the starving thousands were marching to the Promised Land and the angels named them malingerers and thieves. I looked for you my Lord but I never found you.
A few words about the poem…
The Plight of the Vulnerable and Oppressed in Society | A Poem About God
“When will I find you Lord,” a poem about God, is a poignant reflection on the search for hope and salvation amid human suffering. The poem’s speaker searches for God in the eyes of the most vulnerable and oppressed members of society, such as murdered migrants and drowning children. However, despite their desperate plight, the speaker is unable to find God in their suffering.
The poem raises important questions about the role of religion and spirituality in the face of human grief. It suggests that even the most devout believers may struggle to reconcile their faith with the harsh realities of the world. The poem may suggest that many of the citizens of the developed world have a hypocritical adherence to religion. Some may even begin to question God’s existence who so callously permits such suffering.
The poem also touches on the issue of hypocrisy among superpowers that use countries such as Syria to fight proxy wars with each other. The speaker’s search for God in the eyes of the victims of war highlights the tragic consequences of geopolitical conflicts often fuelled by the interests of powerful nations. The poem suggests that these superpowers create the deadly situations of war and at the same time look for thousands of reasons to turn away their victims from their shores.
This is a complex issue that has been the subject of much debate and analysis in recent years. According to Robert Fisk, a journalist for The Independent, the superpowers are battling to be the biggest hypocrite. He argues that the 125,000 civilian casualties of the two Chechen wars elicited far less passion in the West than the fatalities in Syria. Fisk suggests that the West’s selective outrage over human rights abuses reflects its own hypocrisy and double standards.
Similarly, the Brookings Institution has published an article on the proxy war problem in Syria, which argues that the conflict is a result of the geopolitical interests of various regional and global powers. The article suggests that the conflict is not a civil war, but rather a proxy war between various factions that are supported by different external actors. The article highlights the dangers of such proxy wars, which can escalate into full-scale conflicts and destabilize entire regions.
In conclusion, the poem “When will I find you Lord” is a powerful reflection on the search for hope and salvation during human suffering. The poem raises important questions about the role of religion and spirituality in the face of tragedy and loss. It also highlights the tragic consequences of geopolitical conflicts often fuelled by the interests of powerful nations. The poem is a reminder of the need to confront the hypocrisy of the superpowers that use countries such as Syria to fight proxy wars with each other. It is only by acknowledging our complicity in these conflicts that we can begin to work towards a more just and peaceful world.
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