B, D and Z were children of a friend,
The mother and father both were locked up in the pen.
Once a month we’d make the trip, a hundred miles away,
And see them for a short time, although it took all day.
The trip was long and boring, and they would fuss and fight,
The urge to kick them to the curb, I fought with all my might.
We’d stop halfway at Shoney’s, to get a bite to eat,
A buffet of the finest grub, that place is hard to beat.
One night before our pilgrimage they called me on the phone,
And said they could not make it, I’d have to go alone.
I asked them what’s the problem that their ma and pa they’d miss.
They hummed and hawed and beat the bush and finally they told me this:
“We’d really rather sleep late for school’s an early chore,
Instead of rolling down the highway, we’d rather lay in bed and snore.
But tell them that we love them; we really, truly do.”
I said, “Well put it in a letter, they need to hear it come from you.”
So I must go and tell them both their children love them dearly,
And when they ask where are they at, I hope that I speak clearly.
Kids are kids now that’s a fact, the whole world works this way,
The hope we know is they will grow and love like us one day.
Now children sometimes break our hearts and move us unto tears,
Sometimes it’s just for a day, sometimes it lasts for years.
But what about our God above who gave life to every soul,
For thousands of years His pain is clear, men’s heart to Him are cold.
They never tell Him thank you, good morning or hello,
Just take His name in shame and vain and seeds of hate they sow.
So how bout you there, pilgrim, do you visit Him once a month,
Or do you take the time to thank Him when you have your lunch?
The bread of life is Jesus, a priceless loaf indeed,
And on the cross of suffering, for all of us did bleed.
Shall you ignore and shun the One, who for you suffers pain,
And treat the tears He cries for you like water down the drain?
We all must know the feeling of love that’s not returned,
God’s pain revealed in how we feel when His great Love is spurned.
Let His Love into your heart, and it will overflow,
And when you wake up in the morn say “thank you” and “hello!”
Tertius
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him,
but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Romans 1:21
A note about “Visitation Day”: Our relationships between us and other people always seem to point like a compass to either ours or other people’s relationship to God. This one was a true story, and mom and dad were saddened that their kids would not take the time to come see them. It had been exactly a month since the last time we had visited. How much more painful for God who has a whole world of children, the best of which often ignore Him, the worst which disrespect Him their entire life.