Charity Registration No 299679
I’ll Lend You a Little Time
I’ll lend you a little time, a child of mine, He said.
For you to love while he lives, and mourn when he is dead.
It may be six or seven years, or twenty-two or three,
But will you, till I call him back, take care of him for me?
He’ll bring his charms to gladden you, and shall his stay be brief,
You’ll have his lovely memories as solace for your grief.
I cannot promise he will stay, since all from earth return.
But there are lessons taught down there I want this child to learn.
I’ve looked the wide world over in my search for teachers true.
And from the throngs that crowd life’s lanes, I have selected you.
Now will you give him all your love, nor think the labor vain,
Nor hate me when I come to call, or take him back again?
I fancied that I heard them say, Dear Lord, Thy will be done.
For all the joy Thy child shall bring, the risk of grief we’ll run.
We’ll shelter him with tenderness, we’ll love him while we may;
And for the happiness we’ve known, will ever grateful stay.
But shall the angels call for him much sooner than we planned,
We’ll brave the bitter grief that comes. And try to understand.
For you to love while he lives, and mourn when he is dead.
It may be six or seven years, or twenty-
But will you, till I call him back, take care of him for me?
He’ll bring his charms to gladden you, and shall his stay be brief,
You’ll have his lovely memories as solace for your grief.
I cannot promise he will stay, since all from earth return.
But there are lessons taught down there I want this child to learn.
I’ve looked the wide world over in my search for teachers true.
And from the throngs that crowd life’s lanes, I have selected you.
Now will you give him all your love, nor think the labor vain,
Nor hate me when I come to call, or take him back again?
I fancied that I heard them say, Dear Lord, Thy will be done.
For all the joy Thy child shall bring, the risk of grief we’ll run.
We’ll shelter him with tenderness, we’ll love him while we may;
And for the happiness we’ve known, will ever grateful stay.
But shall the angels call for him much sooner than we planned,
We’ll brave the bitter grief that comes. And try to understand.
THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
There’s an Elephant in the room
It is large and squatting, so it is hard to get round it
Yet we squeeze by with
“How are you?” and “I’m fine”...
and a thousand other forms of trivial chatter.
We talk about the weather, we talk about work
we talk about everything else...
except the Elephant in the room.
There’s an Elephant in the room,
We all know it is there,
we are thinking about the Elephant as we talk together
It is constantly on our minds...for you see,
it is a very big Elephant
it has hurt us all
but we don’t talk about the Elephant in the room
Oh...please say his name
Oh...please say Christopher again.
Oh...please, let’s talk about the Elephant in the room
For if we talk about his death
Perhaps we can talk about his life?
Can I say Christopher to you
and not have you look away?
for if I cannot
then you are leaving me alone...
in a room...with an Elephant
TERRY KETTERING
There’s an Elephant in the room
It is large and squatting, so it is hard to get round it
Yet we squeeze by with
“How are you?” and “I’m fine”...
and a thousand other forms of trivial chatter.
We talk about the weather, we talk about work
we talk about everything else...
except the Elephant in the room.
There’s an Elephant in the room,
We all know it is there,
we are thinking about the Elephant as we talk together
It is constantly on our minds...for you see,
it is a very big Elephant
it has hurt us all
but we don’t talk about the Elephant in the room
Oh...please say his name
Oh...please say Christopher again.
Oh...please, let’s talk about the Elephant in the room
For if we talk about his death
Perhaps we can talk about his life?
Can I say Christopher to you
and not have you look away?
for if I cannot
then you are leaving me alone...
in a room...with an Elephant
TERRY KETTERING