I cannot believe it is the 11^th of July already.  Do we still have 24 hour days or have they been shortened?

Well I have had my last appointment with my primary care provider, PA Ben Pate here in The Dalles.  He is moving to Hood River to partner with another fried, Bob Fiske.  Bob is a Christian that was extremely active in First Christian’s youth ministry.  Deed was active in that youth program, she and others just referred to him as Dr. Bob.  Good man.  I knew he had moved, didn’t realize he was so close.

I set an appointment up to meet with Pate’s new office.  When I talked to the receptionist I was told I was the 51^st patient he had here in The Dalles that is moving with him.

I was told by his nurse here that there was a mass exodus going that way; they are going to miss him.  He is a good man, I really like him – and obviously I am not the only one.

He is a Christian.  On his vacation he spent a week down at the White Horse ranch working in the first aid building along with a doctor and nurses.  He said the week he was there they had 750 kids running around like ping pong balls – there is a lot for them to do when not involved in devotions.

He only has a few more days here, so we were fortunate to meet with him.  They do have a replacement for him, who is supposed to show up by the end of August, I guess.  We scheduled an appointment to “hold a place” in case we decided not to go to Hood River.

Acts 17:26-28 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

²⁷ That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

²⁸ For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

And hath made of one blood all nations of men

God doesn’t look at us with eyes that see skin colors, He just doesn’t care.

He looks at our hearts; He looks at us concerning our relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus.

There is but one race, the human race, all the differences man perceives are world driven, not God driven.

And now the only blood that is important is the blood shed by Jesus to wipe away our sins.

On the recent protests and violence these past few days I must confess that my sympathies lie with the Police Officers of this nation.

Men and women who put on a uniform every day.  They get behind the wheel of a patrol car, or walk a beat or ride a motorcycle or horse.  They know that all their training all their education and all their desire to serve the public in the very best way they know how could end at any time and they could find themselves on a surgery table or in the morgue.

Still they go to work.

They know that every single thing they do is going to be scrutinized by the public and their superiors; that any perceive mistake they may make in the brief time of seconds or less, will be reviewed for days and even months or years to be dissected by mili-second by mili-second to see if they made the right decision.

Almost every move questioned, and because of that many officers are becoming more and more cautious exposing themselves to danger with hesitancy.  Every criminal knows that and many will take advantage of that few seconds to attack the officer.

Still they go to work.

They leave their families and friends and go to work with a uniform on and a badge on their chest that becomes a target for those that would like to push anarchy as the means of running this United States.

I have no doubt there are men and women in law enforcement uniforms that act out of hate and prejudice and they should be drawn out and not allowed to wear the uniform and badge the rest do out of honor and respect for the citizens they protect.  They really are in the minority.

I do not know how it feels to be stopped by a police officer thinking that the reason he is stopping me is because of the color of my skin.  I do not know how it feels to be afraid of a police officer and having to sit there not knowing which kind of officer is behind that badge.

I do not know how it feels to have a racist officer treat me differently because of the color of my skin and suddenly realize I am at his mercy.

I do not know how it feels to be treated as a second class human with no regard for who I am or what I do for a living, my family or my community.

I do know, however, the fear of a police officer walking up on a car, not knowing who is behind the wheel.  Who are the passengers and what do these people think about officers or what have they done that I don’t yet know about, but may cause them to attack me.

I worked in an area of the country where we have very few black people, a minority of Indians and Hispanics.  It is predominantly white.  No matter what the color of the driver or the people that were passengers, I would approach with caution, ready to respond to any perceived threat and try and be as courteous as I could be while performing the task at hand.

People are up in arms, vocally shouting their displeasure and protesting in city streets over the treatment that some minorities are receiving from a minority of officers.  I understand, as best I can, there concern; I understand they want a police force that is color blind and fair to every man woman and child they have contact with.

However, I also place myself in the position of the officers that are being threatened.  The officers that are being attacked and injured and killed simply because they are wearing a uniform and badge.

There are those that have legitimate complaints about their treatment by officers.  But there are also a number of them who have willingly committed crimes and are using the smoke screen of police brutality to cover their actions.

I guess my question is “what does the ‘leaders’ of all of this think is going to happen, when they condone violence against the police and their rhetoric is stepping up the hatred of people of color and placing the officers in an even more defensive mode?  Do they think that suddenly everything is going to be hunky dory and those officers that are bigots going to become nice?”

The more likelihood is that as these demonstrations continue to become riots and the leaders continue to blast law enforcement and encourage the violence against them is that the police are going to protect themselves by hyper alertness and every stop has the potential of a felony stop, where they have better control of the situation.

Either that or they will say it isn’t worth it, and either go about their business with blinders on, making no stops or contacts are quitting all together.

It takes several months to hire an officer, there is a lot of testing and back ground investigations into his/her background and then once hired they have several months in an academy, several more months working with a Training Officer to learn how to do their job.  Over a year will go by from the hiring of the officer before he/she has the ability or confident to patrol without direct supervision.

Every time an officer steps down it takes years to replace them and the ensuing time can be a danger to all concerned; citizens who need, want and deserve trained officer and the officers who, without sufficient support because of a lack of manpower, must handle violent situations short-handed.

There is no easy answer, but the spewing out and encouraging of hateful activities and violence has to be curtailed or this country will be locked down, martial law has already been expressed and those that want control over everyone are taking full advantage of these disturbances to argue their case and if they get their way the utopia they envision (with them at the head of it, of course because none of the rest of us can be trusted with such power.....) will be thrust upon us and no one will be safe.   

We need leaders with wisdom, leaders that instead of ramping up the rhetoric genuinely wish to restore some kind of harmony and then help both sides understand the issues – most of which are in the heart in all parties concerned.

If some calm leaders do not get ahead of this the way of life of every American is going to be destroyed and we will find ourselves under a tyrannical government that mirrors those of China, North Korea, Russia and many other countries.

AND that is exactly what many of those pushing these buttons of hatred and mistrust are trying to accomplish.  We cannot let them get their way.

Psalm 46:1  God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

God IS there for us, but we have to invite Him into the discussion and then listen!

Later, Art :-)