God, why don't you do something?
People appear to be dying from acts of aggression all over the world. Recently, there were four major terror attacks around the world with scores of people killed and more than four times that many injured. We have read about people being killed in our neighboring cities, and crimes against people that stagger our imagination.
As I write this, eight people, including a deputy sheriff, were killed in Brookhaven, Miss. — a town I was in only a week ago. At their Candlelight Memorial, COPS (Concerns for Police Survivors) recognized almost 150 law enforcement officers who gave their lives while on duty in the United States during this past year.
Maybe this carnage has always been with us. Maybe it is just better publicized these days through high-tech media. I don’t know. However, I do know that I do not like it.
As a law enforcement and fire chaplain, my heart goes out to the families involved in any of these tragedies. I pray for them, and wonder what I should be doing to prevent them from ever experiencing such terrible tragedies.
I recently had the privilege of reading the lyrics of the popular Christian song by Matthew West entitled, “Do Something.” The first stanza goes like this: I woke up this morning, Saw a world full of trouble now. Thought, how’d we ever get so far down, How’s it ever gonna turn around. So I turned my eyes to Heaven, I thought, “God, why don’t You do something?” Well, I just couldn’t bear the thought of people living in poverty, Children sold into slavery, the thought disgusted me. So, I shook my fist at Heaven and said, “God, why don’t You do something?” He said, “I did, I created you.” The chorus ends with the refrain, “It’s not enough to do nothing. It’s time for us to do something.”
The biblical David cried out in his despair, “Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity (sin)?” That’s really the question, isn’t it? How do we stop this plague of sin?
While freely admitting that I do not have all of the answers that I want, let me at least list a few things that appear to be obvious to most people when they stop to think about it. Admittedly, they are oversimplified.
First, do not depend upon your law enforcement community to protect you. They will be there to support and help you, but they cannot be everywhere at the same time. There is too much truth in the old adage, “You can never find a cop when you need one.”
Second, do not depend upon the military to shield you from all dangers. Our soldiers will die to defend our country and to do their best to keep people safe, but when was the last time you saw an officer in uniform present to stop a serious crime? We have the strongest military in the world, and we still have deadly crimes.
Third, do not depend upon you government to watch over you. No one wants that kind of oversight anyway, and our government has too many problems of its own to worry about you and me (enough said).
First, teach your children the difference between right and wrong, and demonstrate by your own actions that your teachings are good. Instead of driving like a maniac on the road and always breaking the law when you won’t be caught, practice being a responsible citizen.
Second, learn how to live peacefully with your neighbors. Animosity against someone of a different color, religion, ethnic
background, economic status, and so on only fosters the intense hatred espoused by terror groups.
Third, always be on the lookout for ways to strengthen your neighborhood and broader community. It doesn’t hurt to do something kind for someone else, or to stop bad behavior when it threatens another, or to just be a good citizen.
I certainly do not have all the answers, but I do feel that what makes a country great is not what someone else does; it is what we do with our own lives and those around us.