{"id":33099,"date":"2024-10-25T06:00:12","date_gmt":"2024-10-25T10:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/?p=33099"},"modified":"2024-10-24T13:14:18","modified_gmt":"2024-10-24T17:14:18","slug":"is-it-strange-that-i-love-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/is-it-strange-that-i-love-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it Strange that I Love God?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

One of the authors mentioned frequently by participants at Theology Beer Camp last weekend was Walter Rauschbusch, one of the most important theologians of the 20th century and a powerful force in the development of the social gospel movement. I recently wrote about Rauschenbusch on this blog; it was great to encounter any number of people at Beer Camp whose thought has been influenced by his work.<\/p>\n

Living the Social Gospel<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/iframe><\/p>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-33105\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/766\/2024\/10\/rauschenbusch.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"144\" height=\"213\">In addition to his influential theological work, Rauschenbusch was also a poet. I often describe myself as \u201cpoetry challenged,\u201d but this poem \u201cThe Little Gate to God\u201d speaks to me. I hope it does the same for you.<\/p>\nIn the castle of my soul<\/strong><\/p>\nIs a little postern gate,<\/strong><\/p>\nWhereat, when I enter,<\/strong><\/p>\nI am in the presence of God.<\/strong><\/p>\nIn a moment, in the turning of a thought<\/strong><\/p>\nI am where God is . . .<\/strong><\/p>\nWhen I am with God<\/strong><\/p>\nI look deep down and high up.<\/strong><\/p>\nAnd all is changed.<\/strong><\/p>\nThe world of men is made of jangling noises.<\/strong><\/p>\nWith God it is a great silence.<\/strong><\/p>\nBut that silence is a melody<\/strong><\/p>\nSweet as the contentment of love . . .<\/strong><\/p>\nWhen I enter into God,<\/strong><\/p>\nAll life has meaning.<\/strong><\/p>\nWithout asking, I know . . .<\/strong><\/p>\nSo it is when my soul steps through the postern gate<\/strong><\/p>\nInto the presence of God.<\/strong><\/p>\nBig things become small, and small things become great . . .<\/strong><\/p>\nWhen I am in him, I am in the Kingdom of God<\/strong><\/p>\nAnd the Fatherland of my Soul. Is it strange that I love God?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the authors mentioned frequently by participants at Theology Beer Camp last weekend was Walter Rauschbusch, one of the most important theologians of the 20th century and a powerful force in the development of the social gospel movement. I recently wrote about Rauschenbusch on this blog; it was great to encounter any number of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2938,"featured_media":33108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,40,53,61,86,96,1],"tags":[221,242,437,908],"class_list":["post-33099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith","category-god","category-introverts","category-literature","category-silence","category-theology","category-uncategorized","tag-faith","tag-god","tag-silence","tag-walter-rauschenbusch"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Is it Strange that I Love God?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I often describe myself as "poetry challenged," but this poem by Walter Rauschenbusch speaks to me. I think it will speak to you as well.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/is-it-strange-that-i-love-god\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is it Strange that I Love God?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I often describe myself as "poetry challenged," but this poem by Walter Rauschenbusch speaks to me. I think it will speak to you as well.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/is-it-strange-that-i-love-god\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Freelance Christianity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/vance.morgan.98\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-10-25T10:00:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-10-24T17:14:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/766\/2024\/10\/postern-gate-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"476\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Vance Morgan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@thorsenchair\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Vance Morgan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/is-it-strange-that-i-love-god\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/is-it-strange-that-i-love-god\/\",\"name\":\"Is it Strange that I Love God?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-25T10:00:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-24T17:14:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/#\/schema\/person\/9ffe9888ede843e484dbcb38655d36d8\"},\"description\":\"I often describe myself as \\\"poetry challenged,\\\" but this poem by Walter Rauschenbusch speaks to me. I think it will speak to you as well.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/is-it-strange-that-i-love-god\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/is-it-strange-that-i-love-god\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/is-it-strange-that-i-love-god\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Is it Strange that I Love God?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/\",\"name\":\"Freelance Christianity\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/#\/schema\/person\/9ffe9888ede843e484dbcb38655d36d8\",\"name\":\"Vance Morgan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4eb28c453d426f418c37a0d5c661cb1?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4eb28c453d426f418c37a0d5c661cb1?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Vance Morgan\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/vance.morgan.98\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thorsenchair\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/author\/vancemorgan\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is it Strange that I Love God?","description":"I often describe myself as \"poetry challenged,\" but this poem by Walter Rauschenbusch speaks to me. I think it will speak to you as well.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/is-it-strange-that-i-love-god\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Is it Strange that I Love God?","og_description":"I often describe myself as \"poetry challenged,\" but this poem by Walter Rauschenbusch speaks to me. I think it will speak to you as well.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/is-it-strange-that-i-love-god\/","og_site_name":"Freelance Christianity","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/vance.morgan.98","article_published_time":"2024-10-25T10:00:12+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-10-24T17:14:18+00:00","og_image":[{"width":476,"height":768,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/766\/2024\/10\/postern-gate-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Vance Morgan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@thorsenchair","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Vance Morgan","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/is-it-strange-that-i-love-god\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/is-it-strange-that-i-love-god\/","name":"Is it Strange that I Love God?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-10-25T10:00:12+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-24T17:14:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/#\/schema\/person\/9ffe9888ede843e484dbcb38655d36d8"},"description":"I often describe myself as \"poetry challenged,\" but this poem by Walter Rauschenbusch speaks to me. I think it will speak to you as well.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/is-it-strange-that-i-love-god\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/is-it-strange-that-i-love-god\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/is-it-strange-that-i-love-god\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Is it Strange that I Love God?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/","name":"Freelance Christianity","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/#\/schema\/person\/9ffe9888ede843e484dbcb38655d36d8","name":"Vance Morgan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4eb28c453d426f418c37a0d5c661cb1?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4eb28c453d426f418c37a0d5c661cb1?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Vance Morgan"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/vance.morgan.98","https:\/\/twitter.com\/thorsenchair"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/author\/vancemorgan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2938"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freelancechristianity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}