On a morning damp with dew

In a garden silent and still,

The statue said to the bird,

"Oh, if only I were real.

I would smell the blossoms and hear the wind

And feel the warmth of noon.  

I would taste the rain and sing with bees

And rest under the moon.

I would see the sun arrive each day

To bathe the garden in light.

I would touch the velvet of a rose

And envy the birds their flight.

I would cool in the shade of the massive tree

Whose arms I'm sitting under,

And know the God who made all this

And stop and think and wonder...

Why He would put me among such life

Yet make me so cold and still?

What don't I have?  What's not here?

Why am I not real?"

The little bird couldn't talk.

In pity he hung his head,

Then soared above the statue and thought

Just what he would have said...

"To accept Pure Love then give it out,

Unmeasured, no effort, no will,

Unrequested, undeserved, just given

Is all that makes you real."

Lisa Williams Coggin

Lisa Williams Coggin is a missionary to Northern Uganda.  She and her husband, Keith, are the founders of Sanctuary of Grace Christian School.  Sanctuary of Grace Christian School is supported by Far Reaching Ministries.