Pain's Progeny

prog·e·ny    [proj-uh-nee] –noun,

1. a descendant or offspring, as a child, plant, or animal.

2. such descendants or offspring collectively.

3. something that originates or results from something else; outcome; issue.

This week we have witnessed the return of a young man to his single mother. This young man will either be the spark that gives the hope to his family that God can change their circumstances or he will be the source of inescapable heartbreak.

He is eight years old and returning from a week-end spent in a psychiatric hospital where he was tested for every conceivable explanation for his destructive behavior. He suffers from whatever condition would cause you to tear apart your schoolroom and then urinate on yourself in the hall-way.

His tendencies are that of someone that has experienced hurt far beyond his years. Perhaps it was his mother's drug use during pregnancy or the incarcerated father he has never known that hardened his heart. Or, maybe it was the abusive boyfriend that waited in the closet with a butcher knife; ready to attack when he and his mother came back to their apartment. He's never known safety...or peace.

He's not a monster. To most, he looks like a real little boy. He helped me make food to serve at a special dinner at the church. He was proud to have something good to tell his mother when she came to check in on him. He felt decent.

Now he is anesthetized with a three-part cocktail of benadryl and two other drugs given to "slow him down". He's slow now. The behavior is tame. The hurt is compounded now by his inability to express it. If he can bottle up his rage for a couple of days he'll no doubt be paraded in front of everyone he tried to reach out to unsuccessfully so we can affirm him.

He still sleeps on the floor. He still has no father. He can't read and will no doubt be held back in school next year. His mother loves him and tried to help. He'll be picked up and brought to Citychurch Sunday morning.

There's a lot of ambitious wonder in our conversation these days. Our great aspirations must sound so silly from God's perspective when the only way we can win the hearts of our little boys is to drug them into submission.

The good news is, Citychurch knows where he lives.

Pastor, Donnie Lane Jr.

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