I saw you—
lying there, tossed aside like rubbish;
abandoned, wounded—
Everything you had was gone
except your life—just hanging on.
Others passed—
I saw their hurried footprints
to the other side—away from you.
A man shorn of his possessions—
What if you’d ask for some of theirs?
What if—
You asked for water or a morsel of their food?
They dared not risk the time,
the stigma, the means to help—
They did not dare to care.
And I?
I looked at you and saw myself—
Saw my father, my brother, my child.
You were some mother’s treasure—
Some other father’s son.
I understood the risk,
I knew the cost was great,
yet before you even saw me
I had named you—
Brother; Friend.
—Lois Pecce, Centerville, Ohio
“There are griefs and pains that seemingly we cannot sustain, yet our true strength is the Lord our God so that, until the end, we can
carry on.”
—Larry R. Valorozo, a self-supporting missionary, during a Bible study in Penang City, Malaysia
My 3-year-old granddaughter, Charlotte, recently asked her mother, “Mommy, where are your mommy and daddy?” Her mother, my daughter-in-law, hesitated in answering. While she was thinking of the best way to explain that her parents are deceased, Charlotte replied, “That’s OK, Mommy, you’ll see them again when Jesus comes.”
—Joan Apigian Gebhard, California
We are looking for brief submissions in these categories:
Sound Bites (quotes, profound or spontaneous)
Adventist Life (short anecdotes, especially from the world of adults)
Camp Meeting Memories (150 words or less)
Jots and Tittles (church-related tips)
Please send your submissions to Give & Take, Adventist Review, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600; fax: 301-680-6638; e-mail: [email protected]. Please include phone number, and city and state from which you are writing.
