Angels amongst the Sons of Men...

I wanted to share a poem with you, written by a patient aboard the Africa Mercy last year...a tribute to my co-workers. It's also a challenge to you and to myself, to stop and think about how others see you in your life and work. Are YOU the light of Christ, am I the hands of Christ to a hurt and dying world? And if not, what needs to change?


Angels Amongst the Sons of Men

The day the Big White Whale landed on the black shores of Africa
was a blessed day to the Sons of Men.
It came with Angels to walk amongst the Sons of Men.

Why do I call them Angels?
Let me tell you of my time with them.

I came on board the White Whale
with rooms filled with the lame
the maimed
the formed
the deformed
the wrong
and the rough.

And deep into the darkest part of the night,
I saw men and brethren,
maidens and ladies,
though flesh as us,
yet with hearts as Angels.

Sleeplessly and tirelessly they toiled through the night,
through the pains and aches of men;
they with hands to heal and mend,
bringing from above the Father's love to the Sons of Men.

Some they cut.
Some they tie.
Some they seal,
and yet others they fix with tools untold.

Like messengers of the Most High they came.
Not thinking of their own,
they risked their lives
and sailed the seas to lands beyond the endless world,
to shores of Men afflicted and in pain.
Their hearts and lives they came to share,]
as Angels walking amongst the Sons of Men.

Some in this life are born to pass,
and some are born in life to live,
yet these Angels are born to preserve humanity.

Though some may see lives as waste,
yet with speed they move to save.
With words of love and touch of peace,
they endlessly toil to make right the wrong.

You were born as Men to your lands,
and yet as Angels you served the earth.

Gold is digged from earth beneath.
Treasures are hunted on high seas.
But love so pure and true
can only in hearts like yours be found.
Your labor in the Lord shall not be in vain.
For every life you touch and every soul you save,
For every bone you mend and every face you straight,
The Lord of Life and Light will light your path
and guide your life.

For you are truly Angels amongst the Sons of Men.