A Boy In India

Last year I was contacted to write the experiences of others in an effort to bring light to community involvement. The stories, from myself and others, were then published to raise awareness in reaching outside our comfort zones.  

Although this particular story does not focus on my usual love of running, the subject of this story is of a fellow marathoner therefore, I suppose, it fits perfectly.

When running long distances, the finish line brings often clarity to our lives as well as a new sense of strength.  

Sometimes it takes a little boy.

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The callous on his heart controlled his emotions.  God had brought him here, to India.  Never had he beheld so many abandoned or sick people, tossed out of their homes by family as carelessly as one tosses out a bag of trash for Tuesday’s garbage day.  His heart felt very little for the pain and suffering he saw all around him.  This bothered him, yet the callous remained.

Today’s visit brought the team to a hospital.  Here the main task was to simply reach out and touch those who have forgotten what a touch by another feels like.  As directed by the staff, they would each spend time with a patient before moving on to the next. 

His job today would be holding a child that could not use his legs.  Scooping down he lifted the child onto his lap.  Words were spoken in different languages yet transcended understanding.  Only God could make two people understand each other’s language with a simple stirring in the heart.

When it was time to move on, he set his new friend down and rose to leave.  Walking away, he heard the heartache in his sister’s voice as she called his name.  Their eyes locked and he saw the tears brimming her eyes.  Turning around he found the child desperately pushing himself along the floor, dragging his legs behind him, in a desperate effort to get closer to him once again. 

That sound.  That sound pierced his heart and it was that sound that broke him.

The sound of the boy’s legs dragging behind him violently ripped the callous off of his heart.  His heart was now raw and flooding with emotion.  God used that precious little boy to give him the unmistakable picture of God desperately coming after him.  Just as with this child, God only wanted his love.  

He broke down and wept.