As a police officer it has been
aggravating seeing the anger and vicious attacks on all officers for the
mistakes of a few. AND many of the supposedly
mistakes when viewed in the light of what happened were not mistakes; the media
had blown it out of all proportion and ran with an incomplete story – becoming a
major part of the problem.
Leaders of community and our
nation, both black and white, excusing the behavior of felons stating many
things – they aren’t being given a chance, there are more blacks in prison than,
proportionally, white. The excuses go on
and on.
Instead of acknowledging that
black on black crime is the major reason for those incarcerations they blame
society and police in particular.
Instead of acknowledging that there are victims out there of the crime
that are of the same color – they ignore them.
Police Officers are not
perfect. There are a few, a small
percentage, that make it past their probation and become regular officers that
are truly biased against anyone of color.
There are some Police
Departments that may have a culture of biases against people of color – but
those are few and the vast majority of officers and departments strive to be
fair and impartial in their enforcement of the laws.
It was frustrating that I wasn’t
hearing any real credit being given to Police Officers for doing their job.
There will be a token statement of how
important police are in our communities and the rest of the diatribe will be
anti-police.
Each individual officer has good
and bad days. Decisions are often make
in micro-seconds - few other professions have to undergo that time line in
making a decision, and sometimes they are life or death decisions. The vast majority of those decisions are
correct; they hold up under days, months and sometimes years of scrutiny.
We need calm leaders, on both
sides of the aisle, to come forward and truly look at the statistics – but also
look at them as people. They need to
acknowledge that many of the programs now offered tend to hold our kids back
from being successful adults.
These programs tend to be a feel
good solution that only makes the giver feel good, but do nothing, most of the
time, for the recipient other than allowing them to be mediocre human beings,
dependent on handouts – sometimes for generations - without the challenge of
improving themselves.
I was listening to an interview
with Jim Brown, one of the greatest football players of all time, who happens to
be black.
He is putting together a summit
of leaders – both black and white – to address the problems of black on black
crime among other things.
As I listened to him I was
encouraged. Brown is a leader and has
been for all of his life. He resonates
with people, his calm demeanor and quiet voice is a tribute to the person he has
become.
We need more people like him who
are not pointing fingers, but trying to bring people together to deal with the
problems of our society in an honest manner.
Brown has credibility; he has
been working with inner city youth for decades.
He stated “I have never left the ghetto.”
Despite all his wealth and fame,
despite his reputation as one of the greatest football players of all time, he
stayed in his neighborhood. He did so as
a leader and a person who wanted to help kids get ahead. He used his fame and subsequent ‘power’ to
encourage kids to be accountable for their actions.
I applaud his efforts and pray
he can get an honest dialogue in front of the nation so we can talk about the
facts and, even if passionate, can truly look at the situation America is
facing.
America has become so dependent
on Government ‘fixing’ things, that part of what needs to be fixed is our
dependency on government.
I just hope other non-government
leaders step up to the plate and support his labors.
To a degree, government may have
to be a part of the equation – but they need to take a backseat to those that
know what needs to be done.
1 Corinthians 2:9-12 But as it is
written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart
of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love
him.
10 But God hath revealed
them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep
things of God.
11 For what man knoweth the
things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of
God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received,
not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know
the things that are freely given to us of God.
I really detest those
o-dark-thirty times when I am awakened and satan works on me with sins of my
past – that Jesus has clearly forgiven.
Satan hammers us with things
from our deep past that we had forgotten, we are free from those sins, free from
those feelings, free from regrets, resentment, anger, self-incriminating
thoughts – so why does he continue to bring them up – and enhance them with even
new long forgotten memories?
There are times when we are
awake, we are doing something and we hear, or smell or see something that takes
us back in time. Some of those are good
things – but others we thought had been put aside, we thought we had gone past
them trip us up.
How can satan bring these up
when they are covered by the blood?
This morning, as I read these
verses a thought came to mind. Sometimes
it may be God allowing these things to be brought up – not to convict us, but to
set us free.
We may be retaining these
thoughts in our heart without even being aware of it. We have hidden them deep within, it is
something we need to address, ask the Holy Spirit to work with us, to learn from
those past mistakes and make us stronger.
Eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the
things which God hath prepared for them that love
him.
So, when these things occur in
my late night awakenings, I will remember this verse – understanding that His
precious Holy Spirit can help me stop asking why, deal with the feelings – and
turn it over to Him.
Later, Art :-)
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