Quiet Despair is a Terrible Thing, But We Are Never Alone

Please start by reading this poem, and then I will tell you more about it.

"My Concrete Pillow and Bed of Stone"

Here I lay on a mattress of man made stone.

Cold, bare and hungry, nowhere to belong.

Oh, God, please end this wretched pain.

Give me the shelter of angels wings from this tormenting rain.

Master, what have I done to deserve this kind of despair?

Do you really love me; are You even there?

Here I lay, on this mattress of man made stone, with a concrete pillow for my head.

Praying for forgiveness, wishing every moment I were dead.

It seems that I no longer have the strength or will to fight.

I put down my guard to submit, to simply give up.

But my soul refuses to stay down; to say enough is enough.

I will grit my teeth. I will clench my fist. I will stand my own ground.

I will be there, in the front line on the battlefield when the trumpet sounds.

For I am no longer weak.

I am no longer blind.

Nor a slave to any substance.

I will achieve by all means

to come out of this living nightmare, to pursue my dreams.

Along with 3 others (and I have been conflicted with other duties to say I am a regular mentor right now), we have a creative writing class at the homeless shelter. This work is from one of the contributors, Charles Alex Duff. Alex has a story much bigger than this to tell. This is only one aspect. It is easy to read this and see the intellect, which is real, the smarts, also real and wonder how did this happen to him?

I leave these answers to the one who can answer them. We each have a cross to bear (a gift, truly) and this, for now, is his. Our work is to help where we can, probably in small ways, if that. The effort is appreciated by God, and this matters a lot.

Alex and the group came together by God's will. I would never have known Alex or the others, probably. But the gift is present and we need to work it. The next time we look at anyone and sense something is not quite right, we should say a prayer that whatever it is eventually has meaning, and that suffering, as in this case, is not without purpose.

God Bless You,

KJPrice