Fess up.

This week a family in Atlanta scored a victory when two policemem involved in the shooting death of a ninety two year old woman pleaded guilty to planting evidence in the woman's house, lying and other things in an attempt to cover up the fact that they had botched a drug bust. I celebrate with the family, although the officers' confession and subsequent jail sentence will not bring the lady back. However it does give a sense of satisfaction to the family and to the community.

This reminds me of a passage I read in the Bible a few days ago in Luke 12:2-3. "There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs"(NIV).

Did those officers really expect to get away with what they had done? Maybe. Others have in the past. But God is watching them and He is watching us. We may not commit a dastardly act like these policemen did, but God still sees, and He expects us to fess up before He "proclaims it from the roofs".

So let's ask ourselves, what are we hiding? What have we done that we would not tell our best friend about? Cheating, lying or even murder? No problem. We have another Best Friend we can confide in, and He won't tell anyone. His name is Jesus. He will forgive us and keep on loving us, just as He loves those policemen. And if we ask Him, He will give us the grace to abstain from whatever it is. God bless.

Sound off!

I usually don't sound off on things that are happening in the country, but after the tragedy at Virginia Tech last week, I feel I should say something. Contrary to what the President of the college said, I don't think every thing was done to prevent the massacre. I believe that after the first two people were murdered, shock must have rendered the authorities impotent to handle the situation, because in my opinion more could have been done to offset the massacre that followed.

For the college to remain open after the first two murders is to treat the situation like if someone had just stolen cookies from the cookie jar. Did authorities think the atmosphere following the shooting would be conducive to learning, or teaching? Did they expect to have business as usual after two people had been murdered on the campus? Did they hope to find the gunman on a campus of over twenty thousand students?

However, leveling blame would not bring back that teacher who used his body to protect his students, or those students who left home that morning with hopes of a bright future. My heart goes out to the bereaved families and friends and to the Chos who are hurting in a way we may never understand. But as some have said, let us hope that this incident would spark a lot of dialog as to how to prevent a similar recurrence from happening anywhere in the country.

Be a gold-digger

I recently discovered that the pages of my journal in which I've been writing for years now, are gilt-edged. So, you say, what is so special about that? Nothing, really, except that I discovered it after the pages have turned cream and are not so crisp any more. And as I stared at the gilt edges glinting in the light of the morning sun filtering through my bedroom window, I thought, how many people, situations in my life that seem ordinary are really extraordinary?

Have we searched for the gold in that husband, wife, child, brother, sister or friend with whom we interact day in and day out? The one who appears to have no special gift or value? Sometimes it's only when that person is removed from our lives that we appreciate the valuable qualities he or she had.

Or that job that seems so mundane, useful only to pay the bills, may have some gold beneath the dreary exterior. Maybe it's the friends we've made there or the skills we've acquired, or the fact that they always remember our birthday.

How about that situation that keeps you up at nights, sometimes causing you to reach for the Pepto Bismol? Even there, in that situation, you may find some gold. For the Bible says, "All things work together for good to them that love the Lord, and are the called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

So take a closer look around you, at the people in your life, the situations, the job, your environment, and you may find things beneath the surface that astonish you. You may strike gold, and when you do, treat it as the precious substance that it is,never becoming obsolete, always increasing in value.

God bless.