Charlie
(Rich Mullins)
Last time I saw Charlie he was downtown on a park bench
And his eyes they were empty, though his belly was round
And he told me a joke, and we laughed for a minute
Then we laughed for another, just for the joy of that sound
Then a silence came over, and up from within him
He said 'Son, surely living is more bitter than death'
He looked down in his coffee, he looked up again at me
He said 'But I thank the Lord every time I draw a breath'
He felt the colostomy bag in his pant-leg beside him
He said that 'Surely it's taken all that it can hold
So have all the doctors, all the lawyers, and all the enlightened
But it sure is a humbling thing to grow old.
But I do thank the Lord that I am not a young man
With a young man's ambition and a young man's woes'
Last time I saw Charlie he was downtown on a park bench
But Charlie, I still thank the Lord that I saw you
