Thursday, May 27

the slum dog and the million-dollar question.

oh hey, slum dog!
sorry, just thought that was clever.
I would like for you to now meet Shiva:
A sweet, slightly antisocial boy, Shiva wandered away from a little-understood game of Duck, Duck, Goose with a blank look on his face and sat on the park bench by himself. it took me awhile to notice him; i was trying to photograph all the action of the game! my personal favorite is the last second before the kids go to sit in their seat after running wildly from their pursuer, because more often than not they'll leap through the air and then plummet down right on their little brown tushies! anyway, as much fun as THAT is, when i saw Shiva blinking aimlessly by himself on the park bench, i wandered over for a chat. well, maybe more of a noisemaking contest :) he'd mutter some childlike phrase in hindi and i'd usually say, "i don't understand you, but the main problem is that you're too cute!" Then i started to just gurgle back at him what it sounded like he was saying to me, and that made him start to smile. I'd roll my r's, and he'd say "brrrrrrrrrr!" trying to imitate me. he crawled up on my lap and i looked right into his big beautiful eyes, and i just started to talk to him. "Do you know just how much Jesus loves you?" i asked him. "Do you know he loved you so much that he died for you, Shiva? Do you kno-" "doo yah noooo...." i heard an echo. He had continued to imitate me. so i started again with the same words, since he seemed to get the cue from my recent question. "Do you know," 'doo yah nooo,' "God loves me." 'gah luffs me.' "Soooooo much." 'saaaah mahch.' "Do you know," 'doo ya nooo,' "He sets me free." 'he sett me fee.' "He wants me to love Him" 'mmm,hem!' "Sooooo much." 'saaaah mahch.' I continued, only hoping that Shiva will someday be captured by the truth of those words out of the darkness into which he has been born. My heart is burdened for these children, who know nothing of light. i sincerely hope that the grace of the Father carries them, and that they find no satisfaction in their lives until they look to Him with newly radiant faces begging Him to show them the love which they are now grasping at so desperately. the beauty in their innocence is undeniable. the struggles which they work through are unbelievable. the power in their potential is unmeasurable.
i guess my million dollar question is, will they decide to choose him? i can't even imagine the force of change they'd be if they did. what a treasure it is for me to be included in loving them.

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