Omnipotent Christ
Help us help you
Care for the children
   In this lifetime    above the ground.

Loose their laughter   flow their tears
like a sedative
Sleeping war, stilling violence
Imparting giggles of blasting innocence,
Elevating life to shining redeemed levels
 Of truce in neighboring, world sandboxes—
Protesting their own savage extinctions
Sighted in too many adult crosshairs
Recognizing only shadows and stopping their age.

Don’t let nations swirl in preoccupation over
‘Who’s the greatest’,
Making idols, grabbing your essence, Lord
That we fail to hear their voices in song
Or fail to see with their eyes
Of no grid, no agenda  reality.

This day  your day, God
Wheel them safely around injury,
Far from the clutch and choke of illnesses
Free from the butt end of injustice,
To grow up in Christ
Everywhere in the world
Digging in the dirt of a peaceful front yard
Playing hours of hosted games on backyard concrete
Welcoming the chant of your applauding Trinity,
Caressed in the long arms of God - announcing,

“Whoever welcomes this little child
In my name
Welcomes me.
And whoever welcomes me,
Welcomes the One who sent me.
For he who is least among you all—
He is the greatest.

Copyright © 2004 Ward Stothers