Jamie Orman

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The Hero walked along the streets alone
Waving, smiling at the “welcome homes”

They never knew the pain he carried
Not even the long-time friend he’d married

The present faded; the past he could not share
The pain; the agony was always there

But on his face they saw his smile
How could they know that all the while

Determination to end his life was all he thought
And the memory, the agony, the pain it brought?

On the wall, he stared at his own shadowy figure
The weapon ready, aimed, finger on the trigger

Was this what it felt like--the last moment before death?
Had his buddies even had this moment of regret?

Then in a flash, his mother’s face passed before him
She’d been gone for years, nearly ten

Her voice whispered; he barely heard
“Give Jesus a chance, remember His Word.”

“Mama, is that you?” the tormented soldier shouted.
But it had been so long and his broken heart doubted.

“Remember that Jesus is all that you need.
He is the power of deliverance – you must believe.”

The gun lowered and to his knees he fell;
Arms wrapped around him – whose he could not tell

It may have been his Mama; an angel from above
It may have been Jesus, Himself, filling his soul with love

And suddenly to him the truth was shown
How fear had turned truth into lies and how they had grown

Forgiveness for himself came, as bondage fell away
And the thing that had held the past in the present that day

Visions of horrors, buddies cries – it was not gone, it could never be,
Nor the pain that was caused by the guilt of “why him and not me?”

But God promised to help him thru that pain and feeling
And he allowed Him to turn him around to forgiveness and healing.

The road is still not easy; though down it this Hero does trod
He knows that now he has a Friend, he has God.