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As I looked into their eyes, Lord, I heard you call;
felt their sorrow heavy upon my heart;
saw their loneliness as they hoped for healing
and waited patiently for help.
By now, I knew faith's obligation:
having begun with you,
I could not then refuse your guidance
when it came. and there they were,
an unexpected group, sharing the
sorrows of leprosy and simple joys of faith
on tiptoe waiting for a miracle.
How could I refuse your call
writ large on eager faces intent on healing?
But my Yes offered only emptiness.
No knowledge of this strange disease.
No hidden source of funds;
No far-seeing wisdom to plot the way
into the mysteries of this giant despair.
And yet I knew so clearly that you were calling
and would lead the way to better things
for them and me, fellow travellers now
come what may, along a road
designed to break the heart,
making a mockery of high resolve
and faith's sudden ambition.
Yet now we see how
Grace rallied to their cause.
From earth's four corners they
came to help us in the struggle:
Doctors, nurses, administrators,
friends who prayed and gave
to open doors of hope.
And to those doors the patients came,
Travel-stained and weary,
begging for the help
we barely knew how to give.
But kindness, love, food and care,
prayer and friendship went far to
bind up broken hearts and
fan the flames of hope.
Far, but not far enough!
Goliath demanded a David
armed with medical knowledge
and unexpected weapons.
Hidden heroes studied and researched.
One by one weapons were forged,
perfected in fierce battle
with this stubborn foe.
Time passed slowly and with it
many who waited in vain
for news of victories, however small.
Gallant patients revealed God's Glory,
outwardly wasting away yet
inwardly renewed day after day.
Smiles of joy on sightless faces.
Fingerless hands pressed together,
greeting each weary day in
far-sighted thankfulness
that the longed-for cure would come.
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And now today the noise of victory
is rising past all expectation.
Multidrug therapy guarantees a cure
before the seasons turn.
Surgery opens hands to usefulness
and feet to steadiness again.
Proper knowledge sets prisoners free
from neighbours' fears and
paralysing stigma.
Community Based Rehabilitation
holds out the promise of new beginnings.
The dignity of work; the joy of education;
Training and start-up schemes...
Listen, as you read.
Sounds of laughter carry far
when night has lasted long and cold
and now the sun has risen at last
With healing in his wings.
Best of all:
The Love of Christ has blossomed
in many hearts, both staff and patients.
The Truth is out!
God cares for His suffering children;
hears their cries of misery and hurt
and comes Himself
to share their patient waiting
as the slow pages of history turn
to bring us to this hour
of Joyous Celebration.
Now the real treasure is displayed
for all the world to see:
A people of God
from the darkness of leprosy.
The discarded now valued.
The rejected now welcomed.
Hosea's prophecy fulfilled again:
"I'll call nobodies
and make them somebodies.
I'll call the unloved
and make them beloved.
In the place where they yelled out:
You're nobody. Now they're calling you
God's living children."
Past generations hand on the torch to us.
Hold it high with pride.
The flame is His, the Glory too.
The final victory is not yet,
But is assured.
Let's Celebrate what has been
and lay firm hold
on what has yet to come.
© Hugh McKee,
former TLM Regional Organiser
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