A rough Sunday morning

There's not much in the world quite so disconcerting as waking up to find you've been robbed. My wife and I went to sleep last night, snug in our bed, the kids snoozing happily, only to wake up this morning with our van wide open, and her purse, phone, and other easily-grabbed things gone from it. Vacation money was the worst thing stolen.

This is a challenge of Faith. It is very hard to adopt the right attitude, to hold on to your integrity, and "walk the walk".

"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." - Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV)

It is very hard not to wish ill on the thieves who did this, especially since they did it down the road to my neighbors, as well. Truth is, I was incredibly mad. I willed myself to remember that the best is yet to come. I said a quick prayer thanking God that it was only a small robbery, not a home invasion. Nobody was hurt. It was just *things* that were taken. Maybe out of this will come something good. Who knows, maybe we'll get to know our neighbors down the road who were also robbed a bit better than we do know.

And then I turned my mind to the event itself, and the thieves. Perhaps the thieves suffer from addiction, crushing poverty, or some other mitigating circumstance. Perhaps they're just young kids out for a thrill, and were never taught better. Or, perhaps it's the work of real criminals, out for quick, low-risk scores. I don't suppose it matters much. No matter what, I have to find it in my heart to forgive them.

That's not to say they shouldn't be caught and punished appropriately under secular law, mind you. Exodus does say that a thief must surely pay for his debt. It also says he must be sold, which is one of those high-horse moments of mine where I say that anyone who takes a literal view really needs to step back and look at the allegorical truth. Still the fundamental message is there - whoever did this deserves my forgiveness, by should not be abrogated from their responsibility to make up for their own sin.