An Audience with the King

This Creative Thesis attempts to contemplate one aspect of theological inquiry and puzzlement: the enigma of living between an all-powerful, omniscient Divine—the Cosmic King Who is capable of forming a sun or designing a rose—and the intimate Father-God Who holds our tears in His hand. It is an exploration of the indefinable relationship between fallible human beings and an omniscient and all-powerful, yet intimate God. Its variety of texts, though differing in form, all consider what it means to live in the tension of that paradox. The purpose of this work is not to offer answers to any of the questions raised by this inquiry nor to concoct an impossibly definitive response, but rather to open the door to spiritual inquiry in the hope of growth toward new epiphanies of thought and experience. To accomplish this, this text employs a multifaceted, multi-genre approach designed to contemplate this paradox from a variety of creative angles including essays, poetry, short stories, and trip reports. The document ends with a critical reflection which outlines the literary provenance of these writings and places them in the context of the classical and modern works of devotional literature on whose shoulders they stand