Ugly

My face is stained by tears; Streams of confusion and pain.
My mind is overwhelmed with anguish and horror around me
The sun shines, but my world is clouded
The sea sparkles, but I wallow in sewage

I watch as pictures flash through my brain

A bleeding man by the side of the road
A sobbing child trying to wake her dead mother
A naked girl lying in shock staring at where her arm used to be
A baby screaming in vain for sustenance from a pile of muck

It only continues

A violated girl huddled in rags by the side of her drunken father
A small boy whimpering as he rocks back and forth in a cardboard box
A man with a vacant expression sitting next to an empty syringe
The broken body of a man held tight to the breast of his weeping wife

I close my eyes and scream for relief; I can’t handle these images!
God what do you think you are doing?
The breeze blows fresh, but I choke on smoke
The snow glistens, but I wade through blackness

I cry and it is all I can do.
This is what sin has done to our world
It is ugly
I want to hide my face from it, but I can’t
God lifts my face and I see His tears; we cry together.

I know these images not only represent their true reality,
But they also spiritually and emotionally describe many people’s experience with life
Hurting people
Truly, these pictures illustrate a person’s life without Jesus - without their saviour.
Broken, lost, hopeless people

God, I don’t know where you are taking me, but as long as you are with me, I’m willing to go. Give me grace to handle the ugliness of life, and to feed your life and hope into it, both physically and spiritually.