Love is a Battlefield

Two blocks from my house I saw a teen being lead away in handcuffs this morning. I have no idea who he was or what happened, but seeing that sucks. It makes me feel like this:

My heart is in anguish before me;

the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

Fear and trembling come upon me,

and horror overwhelms me.

And I say, "Oh that I had wings like a dove!"

I would fly away and be at rest;

yes, I would wander far away;

I would lodge in the wilderness;

I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and tempest.

There are things that make us want to run and hide, to bury our heads in the sand, to escape from the evils of the world. That's what I wanted to do this morning. I didn't want to deal with the junk that goes on just yards from my house. I didn't want to help in the lives of others. I just wanted to escape.

Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues;

for I see violence and strife in the city.

Day and night they go around it on its walls,

and iniquity and trouble are within it;

ruin is in its midst;

oppression and fraud do not depart from its marketplace.

But, this is where I live. This is where God has called me to live. This is my calling.

For it is not an enemy who taunts me

-- then I could bear it;

it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me

-- then I could hide from him.

But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend.