Poem for Orphans

Neglect

by Michael R. Burch

What good are your tears?

They will not spare the dying their anguish.

What good is your concern

to a child sick of living, waiting to perish?

What good, the warm benevolence of tears

without action?

What help, the eloquence of prayers,

or a pleasant benediction?

Before this day is gone,

how many more will die

with bellies swollen, wasted limbs,

and eyes too parched to cry?

I fear for our souls

as I hear the faint lament

of their souls departing ...

mournful, and distant.

How pitiful our "effort,"

yet how fatal its effect.

If they died, then surely we killed them,

if only with neglect.

 

      We all have choice to make, and a part to play in lives of the desolate, and abandoned orphans around the world. The choice is ours: to make a difference in their lives, or ignore their desperation. Every day, hundreds of children are orphaned, and thousands more die of starvation. All because they didn't receive the help they needed: the help we could have given them. Not all of us are called to forsake all and follow Christ to far off places, but each one of us is charged with the duty to defend the fatherless, and feed the hungry. (James 1:27)  If we have an ounce of humanity, we will do what is right. We will step up and make a difference.  So, we have to ask ourselves: "am I willing to obey the command of God in regards to the orphans? Or will I sit around, forgetting their trouble?" I for one, will not sit around! I am taking that call seriously. Will you? Are you willing to make a difference in the lives of children around the world? Seek God, and ask Him how He wants you to help. He has a plan for all of us, and a place to help in His world. We can help from right where were are, in our own home, if that is how He calls us. Pray, pray, pray, and His plan will be revealed!