Do You Know Noah’s Sorrow?

Do you know the sorrow of Noah inside the ark?
To save the people who watched him and mocked him,
Noah worked hard building the ark—do you know his sorrow?
Do you know the sorrow of Noah, standing with the ark’s door between him and them?
No matter how loudly he shouted to them to come in,
his brothers and friends would not listen—do you know his sorrow as he watched them and ached?
When the ark’s door was shut and he heard the sound of the rain,
Noah wailed—do you know his sorrow?
Thinking of them, whose chance was now gone forever,
how he wailed, and how lonely he was—do you know?
When the ark’s door was opened, do you know Noah’s fear?
When he set one foot outside the ark,
how he looked all around, in case anyone might be there—do you know that?
Even the animals had lived,
but seeing that not one of those precious souls was left,
how Noah grieved—do you know?
In such a moment, no child of God
would be glad and rejoice only in their own salvation.
Rather than dwell on their own salvation, they see that they could not save souls,
and they ache and regret it. This is truly what one who is saved looks like.
With loneliness and anguish and fear and a heart that reproached itself,
Noah got drunk—do you know his pain?
Because I knew his pain, I did not wake Noah from his deep sleep.
I only judged the one who mocked
the pain of my child.