Crime, Vandalism, Frustration

does it seem like crime is on the rise as the economy spirals?

what is our response when the growing gap between the haves and have-nots creates criminals? what is the holy/unholy plea to God? can the [relatively] wealthy really sit back and with hardened hearts and stiff necks make pronouncements and prosecutions?

my friends at guadalupe coffee were broken into recently, so now jeremy and amy are living with a certain degree of fear, since the intrusion and subsequent casing-out seems to be gang-related. pray for their safety, and for the safety of guad's baristas, some of whom live in the projects from whence the assailants may have come

following my recent automotive smash-n-grab a couple of weeks ago, my car was vandalized while parked in front of our house (so were two other cars) early on saturday morning. it now has a nice line of black spray paint from bow to stern. pray for my patience. pray i can rub it out with clay and elbow-grease. [UPDATE: the turtle wax brand polishing compound commended to me by eddie up at the auto parts store worked like a charm. the spray paint came right off, with no apparent damage to the clear-coat below].

there's more, of course. trucks in my neighborhood with tires and rims stolen, left on cinder blocks. scam artists casing houses. two cars at the end of my street broken into.

if crime is on the rise, what should be our response? i don't know either. pray with me.

God,

i feel violated. frustrated.
remind me I am not so different
from the one who did this.
i could do the same.
give me your perspective;
show me ways in which i steal, even now.
show me ways i mar others' property, even now.
even unknowingly.

we feel violated. frustrated.
remind us we are not so different
from the ones who did this.
we could do the same.

i could use your perspective.

forgive us for coolly building societies
that reinforce the gap.
forgive us for not taking in the poor.
for not having a spare bed ready for the stranger.
for being inconvenienced by transient beggars.

forgive me for my imagined scarcity.

amen.

Comments

[Kent Kingery]

Great prayer. So many emotions, so many thoughts and responses to the question of what our response should be. So few of them Christ-like.

Thanks for posting this.