Crusade

By Mark Costello
Collegian Editor
September 27, 2006

Understand, brother, I have done my duty. You don’t understand sin. It’s vile and foul and wretched, and, but for the grace of Christ I am saved from the effects of it, of sin. And that man was not. Lord have mercy, Christ hear me, that man had such a sinful air.

He would look at me every day when I walked towards the mission office. And every day he would ask me for spare change, and every day he would take spare change from everyone and the Lord was his Savior, and he did want that which was not his. He would take it and hide it in his veins, so sayeth me. We help him and he drinks the help or rips the help off of his sinful body and Lord knows, there is no help. There is nothing, there is pain and pain is for all of us. Pain is felt more acutely by me and mine, brother, since we see it. We watch it and we watch our attempts to help fall to the side, brother. I can’t be clearer, Lord knows. Pain is mine.

And now he doesn’t look at me anymore when I walk by. He isn’t sitting on the wall outside the park and he doesn’t hide it in his veins, the help, and he doesn’t waste the help. I don’t see him when I sleep anymore. He’s not there, I’m alone now. Christ has set me free.

You would’ve done it, too, officer.

costellom4@lasalle.edu