“Up With a Cough”

“Up With a Cough” -glenn kaiser

Sometimes, just when you need some, empathy comes

It’s a little past 3 in the morning Lord
Where would I be without You?
This autumn cold isn’t covid
No, not even the flu
But You know I hate to disturb her
And it helps the cough to sit up
In the warm robe she made
I sit up in the chair
Sipping hot tea in our humidified air

A few blocks away on this cold night
In tents, the homeless cough
You know each and every of them by name
The battles they fight and fought
Sometimes they only wish they were done

Sometimes, just when you need some, empathy comes

I realize we’re nearly out of Dayquil
While bombs rain down on Ukraine
I must get to the store and buy some more
As Gaza goes up in flames
I truly believe You- Prince of Peace
My cough subsides even as I write
You’re clearing my head -yet the Israeli dead
Hostages cry out in the night

Up with a cough approaching 4
While several old friends have been facing death’s door
I pray for Your grace
We need it for sure
You meet my needs -but them?
Our tears stored up in Your bottle
Everything will come to an end
What’s the sum?

Sometimes, just when you need it, empathy comes

If anyone ever understood misery
Utter rejection and pain
Entering the horrors, inhumanity
The difference between Abel and Cain
If the sickness that we allow to rule us
Can be overcome in resurrection
If it’s possible to understand it all
This broken world laced with infection
It’s You Lord Jesus I call upon
As I ponder the wrong and the right
Convinced one day we shall know as You know us
Walking in eternal light

Meanwhile I sit with my laptop
Trusting in the healing of the Son
How often do we stroll through this lifetime
Distant, calloused, numb?

But sometimes, just when you need some, empathy comes