HOPE FOR THE HOPELESS HOW HAPPY CAN I BE, TO BE ALIVE AND FREE, WHEN JUST A DAY OR TWO AGO, MY LIFE WAS FILLED WITH WOE, TREATED LIKE AN ANIMAL BY MY FELLOW MANKIND, STUCK IN A PEN WHERE FOOD, WATER, AND A PLACE TO LIE DOWN WERE HARD TO FIND, BUT I DID SURVIVE, A LOT THAT WERE CAPTURED WITH ME WERE NOT ALIVE, SOME THAT WERE HEALTHY DURING THEIR STAY JUST STOPPED BREATHING, PROBABLY BECAUSE OF A LACK OF WATER OR FOOD, OR BETTER YET GUARDS UP TO NO GOOD, REGARDLESS TO FACTS, FROM THIS PLACE THEY HAD GONE AND WEREN’T COMING BACK, A MANY A NIGHT I COULDN’T SLEEP, AFRAID A GUARD WOULD JUMP ON ME WHILE I SLEEP, AND TAKE MY LIFE AWAY, BEFORE THE BREAK OF DAY, SO I SET UP THROUGH THE NIGHT, SHAKING FROM FRIGHT, AS I SAT THERE IN FEAR, I COULD HEAR ONE VOICE SINGING A SONG LOUD AND CLEAR, PRAISING A GOD I DIDN’T KNOW, A GOD THAT SUPPOSEDLY LOVED US SO, HOW COULD THAT BE I THOUGHT, IF HE LOVED US WHY WERE WE LEFT HERE TO ROT, THE SONG SAID THIS GOD WAS ALL POWERFUL, AND TO HIS PEOPLE FAITHFUL AND MERCIFUL, IF THAT WAS SO, WHY WAS THE SINGER STILL HEREIN THIS PEN OF WOE, I DIDN’T KNOW THE REASON THEN BUT I DID WHEN I WAS FREE FROM THIS PEN, EACH NIGHT THE SINGER SANG THE SAME SONG, AFTER A FEW NIGHTS OTHER VOICES BEGIN TO SING ALONG, MORE AND MORE JOINED IN EACH NIGHT, EVEN THOUGH THE GUARDS TRIED TO KEEP THEM QUIET, THE GUARDS TRIED TO BEAT THEM TO SILENCE, BUT EVEN AFTER ALL THE VIOLENCE, THEY STILL SANG ON, SO THE GUARDS GAVE UP BECAUSE THE SINGERS SPIRIT WAS TO STRONG, FOR THE SONG WAS SUNG OUT OF DESPERATION, WHAT COULD BE A BETTER INSPIRATION, MORE AND MORE JOINED IN, UNTIL EVERYONE WAS SINGING THE SONG IN THE PEN, THIS INCLUDED ME, FOR IN AWAY WHEN I SANG IT WAS LIKE BEING SET FREE, FROM ALL MY WORRIES, I WAS GIVEN A SENSE OF PEACE, AND FROM ALL STRESS I FOUND RELEASE, IN THAT SONG I FOUND HOPE, WHICH I NEEDED WITH THE CONDITIONS IN THE PEN TO COPE, WE SUNG THAT SONG, SOMETIMES ALL NIGHT LONG, SOMETIMES WITH THE SONG WE GOT CARRIED AWAY, AND SANG THE SONG ON INTO THE DAY, UNTIL THE GUARDS THREATENED NOT TO BRING OUR FOOD AROUND IF WE DIDN’T QUIET DOWN, THEN ONE DAY WE HEARD THE GUARDS SAY, THAT OUR RESCUERS WERE ON THEIR WAY, AND THEY HAD ORDERS TO DISPOSE OF US BEFORE THEY WENT AWAY, ALTHOUGH WE HEARD THIS WE DID NOT DISMAY, WE BEGIN TO SING THE SONG AS WE HELD ON TO EACH OTHER, WHEN WE SAW THE GUARDS GATHER TOGETHER, EVEN THEN THE SONG WOULD NOT ALLOW OUR HEARTS FILL WITH DREAD, AS WE SANG THE SONG LOUDER A TANK CAME OVER THE HILL AND THE GUARDS FLED, OUR RESCUERS HAD ARRIVED, AND NO ONE ELSE HAD DIED, WE WERE TAKEN CARE OF, AND ALTHOUGH I NEVER FOUND OUT WHO WAS FIRST TO SING THE SONG BECAUSE OF THEM I HAD GREAT RESPECT AND LOVE FOR THE GOD THAT THE SONG SPOKE OF, FOR WITH THAT SONG I HAD GAINED HOPE WHEN I NEEDED IT, WHICH IF I HADN’T HAD IT I WOULD NOT OF MADE IT, AS FOR THE REASON GOD DIDN’T SET THE SINGER FREE, HE NEEDED A SHEPHERD TO LEAD HIS LOST SHEEP TO HIM AND THAT INCLUDED ME, FOR NOW I AM ONE OF GODS CHILDREN, SINGING A SONG FOR A GOD WHO HAS LOVE FOR US WITH NO END,