Every six seconds a child dies of starvation.

That fact nags on me relentlessly.
Every time I buy a stick of gum.
Every time I buy a favorite snack of flavor blasted gold fish.
I look down at the smiling fish in my hands
and see a dozen meals worth of money,
a dozen saved lives,
set aside
so I can satisfy my craving.

I see the faces of children, their faces
caved in with hunger.
I see the woman who holds her dying child. Her eyes
are empty, lacking the hope of God. Lacking
the strength
that God grants.
Her eyes are deep and emotionless.
Joyless.
Because she cannot provide sustenance
For her child to survive.

I come upon the verse,
"remember those in bonds
as if you were bound with them"

If they are naked, cloth them.
If they are hungry, feed them.

Two simple commands that are forgotten
because our churches need
soft, cushioned chairs
so we can have someplace to sit.
We forget that millions call a cement floor
a luxury.

I remember the pictures
that the women at church brought home
of people
living in trash.
Of a boy who was shamed
because all he had to wear,
all he could find,
was a T-shirt
and a pair of girls tights.

He did not have
a pair of boy's pants.

Unknown to most,
you can feed an entire family
for less
then a dollar day,
on the other side of the planet.

We turn our eyes away from the scruffy man
sitting outside the supermarket.
Turn them away from the harried, grubby mother
who snaps at her children.
Twenty dollars
in the name of God
for food or a night out
is enough to impact her
for the rest of her life.
A smile
without scorn
could make her cry.

You feel guilty as you read this,
but you will forget
eventually.

My words will pass
forgotten.

But my dreams will not.

Because I cannot stop dreaming of those children.
innocent
fearful.
I keep dreaming of those children,
and in those dreams
I hold them.
I tell them Jesus loves them.
I tell them of a better Father
a better place.

But then I wake
And the children are gone.
So brief a time that I was with them.

So how come
I can't forget them-
push their faces away?

You might be able to forget,
but I cannot.

God will not
allow it.