I don’t write poems often, but sometimes I do. Here’s one.
The God Who Ranges
Some find comfort in a God who commands.
Others find solace in a God who weeps.
But I am called by the God who ranges:
A Father and a Mother range among the worlds;
they scry the heavens and the earth for signs
of other wills, sparks of self-awareness like themselves.
They sweep the skies for them;
they hunt them from hidden places in deep hollows,
and, finding them, they laugh with delight as they lay them on their shoulders.
They gather them and give them their names,
clothe them and choose them their children,
plant them and provide for them;
and then watch in wonder and delight
to see what strange new things they will grow into,
in the strange new places where they will peregrinate,
when they, the begotten children of rangers,
begin themselves to range.
And when they do, the Mother and the Father go out again to range,
and call their kindred to them,
on the strange new shores where they range.
They hunt them on the hills and in the hollows;
they hunt them even in the outer void
where some try to hide from their Parents, from themselves, and even from being itself.
They call them with their own authority:
not the domination of other wills, but
the authority of a love, born of wonder and delight, that is stronger than force,
a faithfulness that outlasts death, and
a mercy that overwhelms darkness and bewilders unholiness.
By this everlasting authority they release them from their fear of being found
and set them free to range
in the express image and likeness of their Parents.
By Common Consent, a Mormon Blog 
Thank you.
Beautiful. I love those images.
This works. Thank you for sharing.
As Elohim is plural, it might take on a new meaning if was “The Gods who range”, or if the plurality of Gods is discomforting, the jarring grammar of “The God who range” might draw attention in another way.
Just a thought.
I do like the connection to modern term of free range parenting and Godhood.
This is stunning and beautiful. Reads wonderfully aloud with a rhythm and pacing of waves both gentle and powerful. The second to last stanza is especially riveting, and is an emotional apex in the poem for me, positing a calm, even a resignation, in our parents, a declension from the frenzied and desperate hunting of the stanza before it to the gentle calling required under the restraining reality of agency, those restraints overcome finally not by power or even cleverness, but patient call of love.
However, should it read
“not the domination of other wills, but”
In the second line of that stanza. I am trying to understand the meaning if the omission of “of” was purposeful.
I would like for you to write poetry often I think.
I really enjoyed the poem, Jared. Thanks for sharing it. It’s an interesting take on what it might mean to be a god, and the cosmic flavor pulled me in.
Lona, that was just a typo, not intentional. Thanks for pointing it out. I’ve fixed it.
i love this!
Considering the poem has Gods in plural. It seems the title ought also be plural.
This is wonderful and thought provoking Jared.
Thanks, Bill. That means a lot, coming from you.
I really appreciated this. Thank you.