a poem from a good friend...

I’m trying to find my compassion groove
What it is that makes me move
That makes my heart go
Thump-thump, thump-thump
That makes my throat choke back that lump

What I’ve come up with so far
Are people and places
On the brink
On the edge
On the mend
On the outside
Wanting in

And my heart goes out
And my groove begins…

My heart goes out to you…
The lonely one
Needing a friend
Maybe heart-broken
Maybe at the end
Of a rope
Clinging to hope
That someone will come close
Someone will see you
Someone will hear you
Someone will want to be near you

You need love
Want love
But it’s hard to reach out
You swallowed the lie that you’re not worth the trouble
I’ll meet you half-way
Not good enough
I’m there on the double

My heart goes out to you

My heart goes out to you…
Africa…crippled by disease
New Orleans…stolen by storm
Iraq…damaged by war
Kabul…ransacked by injustice
New York City…wounded for life
North Korea…kidnapped by lies

What can I do?

My heart beats quick.
Love God. Thump-thump.
Love people. Thump-thump.

My heart goes out to you…
The one whose eyes have seen some hard stuff
Whose shoes I am not brave enough to walk

You’ve traveled dusty miles for water
You’ve cried tears of fear
You’ve seen too much death

What can I do…
Kleenex isn’t enough
To wipe away the past
Those memories that last

What can I say…
To make the pain go away?

God is your refuge

What can I do?
My heart goes out to you

Okay, I’m almost done…but not quite

My heart goes out to you…
the one sitting on your couch…
doing nothing
Feeling nothing

Well, maybe you feel something
When you watch the news
Disgust, rage, the Red Sox blues?
Bitterness, resentment, a little pride?
Sympathy, empathy…
did you feel something break inside?

But what does it take to get you to move
To get your feet to hit the floor
And say I’m not going to take it anymore
I’m not going to take
What I see that’s not right
Injustice
Poverty…push it out of sight

Well, I’m gonna fight

Fight to care for the lonely waitress
Fight for the one who can’t speak my language
Fight to care for the man on the street
Or the one across my office…just a few feet

Fight the urge to stayed glued to my seat
Fight complacency
Fight my ego
Where He goes…we go
Eating with sinners
Loving his enemies
He’s my compassion hero
He blazed the trail that we gotta follow

You know what I mean?

He saw something when he looked at people
Not just their skin…
Their hair…
What got them there…
To that place of
Broken-ness
Hopeless-ness
Selfish-ness
Lonli-ness
Wrestless-ness

He saw those battles we couldn’t win
Not on our own
And up welled compassion again

He saw something when he looked at me

So…I’m waving the white flag
It’s time to give in
Give into compassion
Find my passion
Get my mind connected to my heart
And my heart connected to my feet
So I can make the hard walk across my street
To my neighbor in need
And my hands…
There’s power in my hands that compassion can reek havoc with
When I dare to touch the untouchable
Dare to lend some help
Dare to care
Dare to reach into my wallet
And my words…
Messengers of hope
Like butterflies in the breeze
Have no fear
My God is here
I love you
Peace

I’m not going to fake it anymore
Pretending like I care
Pretending like I don’t
I can’t do it…I won’t
I’m on a mission
Compassion towards all.
The big bucks and the small
Time to feel
Time to move
Time to get on our compassion groove

Love God. Thump-thump.
Love people. Thump-thump.