Stolen Things

I spent the last week caring for cats. It is a privilege to be considered trustworthy to make sure someone else’s stuff is safe, that the things they hold dear are cared for. While there is no guarantee that they would come home and everything would be there and alive, that is the obvious hope.

Everyday things are vulnerable. Every moment is an opportunity for things and people to be taken from us. Everything is a fragile gift that we do our best to treasure and steward. Sometimes no matter how hard we try, it is still taken from us. Every day things are stolen. Of course some things that are stolen are okay – a stolen glance, a stolen kiss, a stolen heart, stealing a scene or the show or a base – but those really are just idioms. Real thievery is never okay. Tonight my son’s car was broken into and his computer and backpack were taken as well as his sense of security violated. This is not big in the scope of life but it is a microcosm of a bigger transgression

Every day the evil one steals from us. He takes our joy. He robs us of relationship, hope and life. He takes our time. He steals the truth. He destroys everything. But not forever. One day God will make it all right and will restore more than was taken from us in the first place. Until then I will love equity. I will long for it as I long for righteousness. I will do my best to steal back the hope and the joy that is mine. I will look for ways to overcome evil with good, darkness with light, and take back the truth.