S O C I A L
J U S T I C E
S E R I E S
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C H I L D R E N ’ S
S T O R Y
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Song of Love By Charles Mills
“The birds have their song to sing. So did Grandma. Her song was love.”
10 Pacific Union Recorder
L
isa stared down at the words carved into the stone face of the grave marker. She wanted to cry, but she had no tears left. They’d all been used up. It was weeks ago when she’d heard the news that Grandma was sick. Then she’d overheard her mom and dad talking about medicines and machines and strange sounding treatments at some hospital. She’d even visited the building where Grandma was staying, but she couldn’t go inside because there was a danger that she could become sick, too. All she could do was call out “I love you” to a window high overhead where a busy, masked nurse appeared from time to time. Lisa had been told that Grandma was in that room, lying on a bed, trying hard to breathe. She understood that there was something called COVID-19 stalking the world. She’d lived in fear that she or someone she knew would catch it and become very sick or even die. Sure enough, it happened. Now, Grandma was gone. All that remained were happy memories, words on stone, and an empty place in her heart. “Why,” the girl whispered. “Why did this happen?” Lisa’s mother walked up beside her and took her hand. They stood for a long moment gazing down at the marker. When mother spoke, her words were faltering and sad. “Grandma died because of sin,” she said. Lisa blinked. “Sin? I thought she died of COVID -19.” “Sin made COVID -19 possible,” Mother stated. “Without sin, nothing gets sick, nothing becomes sad, nothing dies.”
