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Daily reflections for Lenten Easter, written by Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI.

Have you ever been overpowered physically and been powerless to defend yourself or fight back? Then you have felt how God feels in this world. Have you ever dreamed a dream and found that every effort you made was hopeless and that your dream could never be realized? Have you ever cried tears of shame at your own inadequacy? Then you have felt how God feels in this world.

Have you ever been shamed in your enthusiasm and not given a chance to explain yourself? Have you ever been misunderstood and powerless to make others see things in your way? Then you have felt how God feels in this world.

Have you ever loved someone and wanted desperately to somehow make him or her notice you and found yourself hopelessly unable to do so? Then you have felt how God feels in this world.

Have you ever felt the world slipping away from you as you grow older and ever more marginalized? Than you have felt how God feels in this world.

Have you ever felt like a minority of one before the group hysteria of a crowd gone mad? If you have ever felt firsthand, the sick evil of a gang rape, then you have felt how God feels in this world and how Jesus felt on Good Friday.

God never overpowers. God’s power in this world is never the power of force, of speed, of physical attractiveness, or of brilliance. The world’s power tries to work that way, but God’s power is more muted, more helpless, more shamed, and more marginalized. It lies at a deeper level, at the ultimate base of things, and it will, in the end, gently have the final say.