A HEART FOR COMMUNITY April 3, 1995 Issue

This Sentinel column provides an opportunity for readers to share their observations and insights into happenings in their community. This week, a mother of five, who lives in Missouri, tells how she felt impelled to reach out to young people in a crime-ridden community far from her own neighborhood.

His children are forever His

Ellen M. Thompson

I felt a little out of my element
in this neighborhood far from mine,
waiting in my car while a friend
shopped for groceries inside.
Then, I heard a familiar sound.

It seemed out of place on this dark night.
I'd been watching suspicious shadows scurry here and there;
had just rechecked the locks on all the doors.
A lilting tune caused me to lift my sight
in time to see, at ten o'clock at night,
three tough-looking young men
hunched over steeds on a coin-operated merry-go-round.

For a moment, I was quite taken aback!
These three, easily mistaken for hoodlums,
seemed to be clinging desperately to their innocence.
I wanted so to put my arms around them and say,
"Stay there!" Stay huddled close to your childlikeness.
Stay close to His love for you. Hug still your sinlessness.

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Good is not random
April 3, 1995
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