Reflections on a Certain Slum

I slowly walk along these trampled streets. They’re covered with sewage, trash, drugs, filth and disease. The stench stirs my senses clear down to my toes; It makes me sick to my stomach, and even turn up my nose. How could I love and serve these people, Oh, Lord? Your children, Your people, those whom You adore? I don’t want to touch them; I want to close up inside. Lord, make me invisible, find me a place I can hide. For serving these people is not something I think I can do. They’re dirty. They’re germy. They’re truly covered in poo. I look at these people in horror, dismay. They‘re hungry, they‘re tired and poor...But Okay. There’s laughter and giggles and smiles all around. They’re fulfilled, secure, joyful. And Your grace: it abounds! I don’t know how to do it; Lord, I just want to run. And yet, not my will, Oh, Lord, but Yours be done.