Doing the Master’s Work – Survivor’s Poem By Jack Stoskopf

This is a brilliant poem by survivor, Jack Stoskopf, a friend of mine across the pond.

Doing the Master’s Work

If I could weld all the stars in the skies,

I could never dry all the tears in little children’s eyes,

There is so much hate and not enough love,

But I will always trust in God up above,

One in four girls and one in six boys,

Are trampled and left as broken adult toys,

I was once one of them left broken and used,

I know how it feels to be beaten and bruised,

I once felt I was the one to blame,

There is no need for all suffering and shame,

Yet through it all I have always believed,

In a God of love greater than I can conceive,

I’ve asked, Why God? What can I do?

To stop the raping and killing and child abuse,

There is so much evil and not enough me,

But I continue to work setting captives free.

Jack is a welder who has such pride in his work, and it shows. He loves his craft. Being a tradesman myself, and sharing a love of the ministry of God, we have a precious affinity. But it is Jack’s welding that nuances this beautifully hopeful poem that does not hide the realities of the evil of abuse in our world.

Jack’s poem is a requiem of endurance, the product of a lifetime processing the pain he endured in his precious developmental years. It is a sad poem, but also it is a triumphant poem.

It offers hope to those millions like Jack — the one in four girls, and one in six boys.

It validates their experience. It gives permission for one to receive ministry for the suffering inflicted and the shame that is so unfairly felt.

There are many more words I could use, but the real mastery is in the poem: Doing the Master’s Work. Thank you, Jack. Love and blessings, my friend.