Council Blog

Would you like to press charges?

When the police officer asked me whether I would like to press charges, I surprised myself by answering "yes". Granted, the theft of boxes from my mother-in-law's garage had been followed immediately by the theft of electronics and petty cash from the CGS church office. But my raincoat and shoes had already dried out after walking around the neighborhood in the rain, looking for signs of stolen boxes. And that doubled sense of violation was already starting to fade. So why answer "yes"?

I didn't yearn for vengeance, yet in the event that the people who stole the boxes were apprehended, I wasn't opposed to the notion of "consequences," either. And, sadly, I felt intrigued by the idea of testifying in court, something I've never done. But coming just a few days before the Easter celebration of forgiveness, I wondered whether I was treating my fellow human beings in a Christian manner.

But were they human beings? They were fuzzy images on my door camera, darting back and forth on their bikes. They were like unfamiliar callers on a huge Zoom call with their video turned off. To me, they were avatars in an RPG raid on a digitized garage.

One of my goals for this post-COVID spring is to renew my connections to real-life human beings. To share a meal of soup and bread on Wednesday evenings with folks at CGS. To nurture an acquaintance into a friendship. To be seen by someone in the same room. Perhaps then, gradually, those fuzzy images on the door camera will start to look more human.
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