'. . . why do you stand looking
up toward heaven?'

we look for you,
straining our eyes
into the far country:
our vision disrupted
by the least, the lost,
the little, the last
among us;

trying to catch up,
we race after you,
turning the corner
only to find
a homeless family
in our path;

we wander the streets
calling your name
yearning to find you:
but it is only
a single mother who turns
and wearily smiles,
a little girl who pirouettes
and takes our hand,
a street person
who whispers 'hello'

gone,
but you are still here, Lord,

help us to see. Amen.

(c) 2005 Thom M. Shuman