We are all in need of help. But is it the noun or the verb we need?
Woe is me! How can this be?
Where is that help I have sought?
Nothing but wretched know-it-alls
Come to disturb my thought – and my peace.
Peace? What peace?
What am I saying? Who am I trying to kid?
If this is peace then give me war
And I shall rest and sleep and snore.
Time passed on and matters grew worse.
I soon lost all that I had.
My friends had gone their merry old ways,
My family too was gone.
My business failed, uncertainty prevailed;
I slowly began to wrestle with myself
For a change.
What’s this? A knock? A tiny knock?
I haven’t had a knock since that beggar came by!
I wonder who it might be?
Eh? A whimper? A sniffing? A sobbing?
More trouble! Add fuel to the fire!
Is there no rest for the wicked?!
I opened the door and there stood a boy,
One hand over his eyes and one on his knee,
From where trickled blood to my doorstep!
Sir! the lad cried with tear-stained face,
I stumbled and fell just in front of your place.
I have nobody to help me.
Are you a doctor or someone to bind my wound?
Angered at first at the gory mess,
I nearly chased him away.
But though I knew I was only a laborer,
He had flattered me with his question.
Fancy me a doctor!?
“Lad, you have saved your knee,” I thought.
“Oh, very well, come in, come in.
We’ll see what to do with your wound.”
I bound up his leg and sent him away,
Not as friendly as I could have been.
But after all he was a bit of a nuisance
And I did give him some sweets to cheer him.
As I cleaned off my step
I began to think that
Though I was but a common fellow,
Yet he took my help (there was nobody else),
And he went away for the better.
And how was it I helped that little pest?
There was a time I wouldn’t be bothered!
Am I changing somehow or am I going mad?
I actually did him a favor – without charge.
It’s plain to see that though he is hard,
A change is slowly transpiring
A little more time mingled with hope;
Perhaps from evil he is tiring.
These were the words of the Sovereign King
As He spoke to His servant, the boy.
“You were sent to bring good news
And I thank you for your sacrifice.”
Lethbridge, 1984