Friday, February 10, 2012

Faith-Filled Moments with the Maintenance Man

The maintenance man came over to fix a few things;
His faith simply shines in every message he brings.
Here is a black man raised in New Orleans
Who is comfortable being of modest means.

He and I spoke of his four children
And his concerns about his young adult son.
He knows the fateful fatality statistics
But his mind is still, on optimism, fixed.

He and his wife married twenty years ago;
They were only themselves twenty, and so...
The odds were against them, but they persevere
He speaks to me of praying for what they hold dear.

I pray that, one day, the odds will be equal for his kids.
Will he continue to pay the price for what our ancestors did?
Someone sold his ancestors to slavery, and he has risen above;
Will those whose ancestors bought his, surround him with their love?