His lips are like concrete cracked beneath a florescent sun
my hands are gloved blue to hold one more moistened sponge
not hyssop or wine, nor vinegar,whiskey or the enemy gall
just one drop of water, i say …” one drop , the physician says that all.”
his eyes draw open , a pool of blue thanks ,reflecting Our distant light
His eyes flicker as sparks of joy like darting fire flies in the night
The sponge falls from my shaking fingers onto a blanket of white
” A drop is enough for now” he says”the physician may be right”
The sponge I toss with its debris to fellowship with waste
Ive so many more patients ,my care is killed by haste
The drawing of blood and plans,injections , bedpans and pills
Thinking “Is not this thirst of his the least of many ills ?”
But ….,
His “Thankyou, ” I hear follow me like a clinging child
“That will last me for today” the man said so softly and mild
I stop with pill and pan and blankets towels pillows and sheets
There comes this moment where pride drops all at Jesus’s lips and feet
“Oh have mercy my God our Father on these and mine parched soul
Oh have mercy God our Father on both us whom the “bell doth toll”
Oh have mercy God our Father, we feel one drop from you as a stream
One drop from you is a river, breaking through heart’s concrete seams.”
For I know there’s a physician Lord over this parched nurses heart
Who gives manna and water for souls daily start
And on this very morn , I, ungrateful for a drop of blood
Still jesus quenched my lips and now to my soul ,His body , He floods
Notes:
When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them.”Isaiah 41:17
We all are the ” poor and needy” and God has “answered us ” by His Living water , His Son.
“I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
that they may see and know, may consider and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.”
Isaiah 41:18, 20
“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'””
John 7:38 ESV
