Just a moment
It starts with a change
So outwardly insignificant
That no one would notice
Except the person
Behind you in the aisle.
Just a moment
When instead of seeing
Rows of labels
On a supermarket shelf
You imagine the people
Behind them,
Tilling the earth,
Sowing the seed,
Gathering the crops.
And you pause,
Wondering,
What their names are,
Where they live
What difference it will make
If your hand picks up
This box instead of that,
Wondering: how do I
Love these neighbours?
Can I help change
This child’s long journey for water,
Her mother’s lack of healthcare,
The prospect her father faces
Of another year unable
To feed his family well?
Just a moment.
And the person behind you,
Her impatient baby
Squirming in the trolley,
May never realise
That in that brief hesitation
A life hung in the balance.
Christian Concern for One World