It Takes Just One

“Be strong and courageous.
The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:9, NIV

"How was school?"

Manmie greeted me with a warm smile and joyful eyes full of love.

"Oh, it was fine," said I.

As soon as the words fell out of my mouth, I realized I had lied in the presence of God to Manmie and to my own conscience. Yet, somehow, I could not get myself to reveal to my precious mother the day felt like a complete disaster to me. She paused, looked at me, and knew I was hiding something. Surprisingly, she did not press the issue.

For the rest of the day, I kept hoping she would ask me in private. However, sharing a small house with five other siblings left no room for privacy. I finally fell asleep comforting myself with the thought that, perhaps, the scornful treatment I received at school that morning was purely the result of my wild imagination.

I went to school the next day half convinced I had simply imagined the horrible events of the previous day. I took but one step outside of the classroom during recess and harsh reality brought me back to the cruelty of the world outside my home.

Kids were already snickering.
Left and right, heads were turning.
I was to be their choice entertainment.

A moment later, three boys escorted me to the end of the playground. They shoved, teased, and roared with laughter at my flowing but silent tears while the ringleader grabbed my lunch box and ate my peanut butter and pineapple jelly sandwich. Upon finishing the juice I carried, he leaned toward my right ear and released the loudest belching sound known to humanity. The smell of his unwashed body completely overwhelmed my famished system. I begged to be released.

With his most superior tone, he ordered his minions,

"Let the sissy go."

Sissy? I have got to know what that word means, I mentally logged.

To my utter relief, they left and dumped the lunch box on the ground. As I bent over to pick it up, I noticed the presence of other students standing not too far away, seemingly aloof yet terribly interested in what had just taken place. Not one of them lifted a finger to help me.

Carefully, I studied the whole lot of them and spotted one little girl whose eyes registered concern for me.

That was all it took to give me the courage to find hope. There was at least one person who cared. She was not yet brave to speak or lift a finger but she loved me through her eyes of compassion, care, understanding, and mercy.

Indeed, she reminded me of yet another who has always cared, who understands, and who extends mercy . . .

Thank You, Lord, for the lone courageous One who dared to face the atrocities of humanity to save souls. May this follower be, at least, one bright light for those in darkness! Amen.