Do I Notice??

Several years ago Michael had surgery on his feet in France.  There was a little boy 2 doors down from us who never had a visitor, only the nurses came and went from his room.  We weren't allowed to visit him.  We were told that would be some kind of privacy violation.  We only saw him laying in his bed as we passed by.  But he touched our hearts and we prayed for him every time we thought of him, even years later.  We even cried tears for him, the boy whose name we didn't even know.

I'm not sure what his diagnosis was, but he only lay in his bed and moaned every now and then.  Weeks later I wrote the following poem about him.  

The poem is not only for this little guy or for children who are "unnoticed" or seemingly laid aside.  It is for anyone who is dismissed or forgotten or feels that who they are is overlook in some way.  

This little guy still motivates me to look beyond what I see, to remember that there is an eternal soul inside of every body, that Jesus came and died for all.  It challenges me to notice each one!

No One Seemed To Notice

I walked past his hospital room and saw him staring into space
No one seemed to notice 

The nurses seemed to know his happy sounds from his groans for help 
They moved in and out of his room without a word or touch
If he was more aware than he appeared 
No one seemed to notice

No special lights, no music playing
Only a silent room with pale blue walls
His days ran into each other
Without an effort made to comfort or understand
And no one seemed to notice 

I paused at his door with a heavy heart
He was woven in his mother's womb
He was created in God's own image
For him a Savior died
But no one seemed to notice

What would his life have been like
If the body had been able and strong
He would have had gifts, interests, strengths
He would have left a mark on the earth
Now no one seemed to notice 

I thought ahead to the day when his pain will end
He will run the streets of heaven in his body whole and new
I wondered if his place will be honored
For the pain he suffers here
I guess then everyone will notice

Until that day he'll stare at walls
He'll groan for help
He'll be fed and washed
He'll spend his days on earth feeble and weak
Then slip away to the better place
I wonder if anyone will notice