today ...last night

today 
i walked thru the streets of a local township
the sites i saw were those just like other days
but today
more so than others
my heart struggled.
my mind wondered.

i walked
and peeked into a creche (day care)
with the name of Jesus taped on the walls
with precious children clamouring for my attention and hands to hold,
dancing with me and proudly showing me a colored page.

i glanced at a garden being sown
with rubble used to maintain the bed
and sawed off 2L and pipes to water it.

i noticed more children
too little, so i thought, to be alone
roaming the streets.

i saw dogs. i always see dogs.

there were clothes blowing frantically
on clothesline after clothesline
strung between shack after shack
after shack after...

and oh the wind. the swirly, whirling dust up, down, all around wind.

i saw the largest collection

of glass bottles i've ever seen.

beer bottles to be exact.

sorted by clears and greens.

the familar site of
person after person after person
walking, roaming
always walking,
always roaming,
doing what?
going where?

then there were those sitting.
every corner
sitting.
looking for what?
waiting on what?
work? someone?
food? money?
hope? Jesus!

i went into homes.
homes nothing like mine.
one room homes.
where Jesus and love still live.
where families lay there heads at nite
sometimes on the ground
sometimes on one mattress.
where life happens daily for many.
where community is all around
and silence is not.

which lead me back to the thoughts
i fell asleep with last night...

community...
where neighbors are always out,
kids play all around,
sharing and living life together
is the way.
where fellowship is alive and well.

and how in some ways
these townships have it right
and in other ways more wrong.

and where
in some ways
my "american" life
had some right and
more wrong...

and how
i think we are all
missing out
on the way
God
intended
life and relationship
to be.

and how
we should learn from each other.

and my mind reels
as it tries to soak in
and make sense
of what
i've known all my life
and what i see around me every day now.

i can never go back to the way it was before
because i have seen.
i have lived.
my mind, heart, thoughts, life
will never be the same.
and i am blessed
God opened my eyes.
and He continues to open my eyes, heart, life.

"kids can always play"

"bottle collection like i have never seen"