Monday; April 4

I was a part of a discussion the other night that focused on violence in our community. While there were several good observations about the issue and suggestions designed to address the problem, one that struck me was employment. As the person put it, “How many acts of violence were being done while people were at work?”. Sure, there are isolated incidents of workplace violence; but, for the most part, they are the exceptions rather than the rule. Most violence occurs when people have too much free time so they get into trouble.

As I reflected on this, two things came to mind. The first one was from the New Testament passage, “For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies.” (II Thessalonians 3:11). Even though we all need breaks from productive labors from time-to-time, idleness can lead to a lot of issues. The Apostle Paul points out “busybodiedness” here, but he could have just as easily inserted “violence”. When people aren’t doing a good days work, they might be tempted to be up to no good. Yet, the other part of this equation is helping people find work. If we, as community leaders, are looking for a simple but direct way to curtail the violence in our communities, we might want to look at our employment rates. Employing people not only gives them something to do with their time, it also helps them find value in their lives. If you are a business owner, entrepreneur, or even a landowner looking to make a difference in a struggling community, maybe an answer is to create more jobs for that community.
No matter how we look at it, work can offset community violence. Interestingly, not only can it help stop violence it will have several collateral benefits as well.

Think About It!

Popular posts from this blog

Thursday; May 3

I have a fish tank that allows my three Bettas (Larry, Darrell and Darrell) to live in the same structure, but remain hidden from each other – well sort of.   When I go to feed the fish, I believe that one of the Darrell’s can sort of see that the other Darrell is getting fed and he will linger over on that side of the tank even after I put his food in his tank.   I have to tap on the side of the tank where his food is floating to help him refocus and eat.   I get the impression that he is so interested in what is going on in the other Darrell’s tank that he can’t enjoy his own food. I have been told that the brain of a fish is pretty small – which explains their inability to process “blessings”, but are we guilty of the same malady as Darrell?   Are we so worried (or consumed) by what happens to the people around us that we fail to realize what is going on with us?   Are we envious of the blessings that others are receiving and end up missing out on what we have been given?   Are w
Read more

Thursday; February 14

         While most of us are familiar with today being Valentine’s Day, there are some who actually refer to February 14 th as “St. Valentine’s Day”.  This title is often affixed to a criminally historic event known as “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” on February 14, 1929 in Chicago, but that is another story for another time.  Not knowing much about the history of “Saint Valentine” I did a little research and found out he was a Roman religious leader who was martyred in 269 AD.  According to my limited research Valentine was killed because of his encouragement of Roman men (especially soldiers) to marry which was in violation of Claudias’ edict that prohibited marriage to keep their minds singularly focused on their task of defending the Empire.  Somehow, from this beginning – and possibly embellished by Chaucer – St. Valentine became intertwined with the concept of romantic love.           I am not really sure how February 14 th became connected with love, but inspired by thi
Read more

Wednesday; December 6

What does it mean to be a leader? I subscribe to the belief that a leader is someone who seeks the best for others and works with them to achieve their potential. There are others; however, who define leadership as the ability to have a vision and the tenacity to get their own way. Leaders who are this way are often portrayed as having developed the maturity to manipulate people to do things their way. However, is the ability to drive people in our direction mature or is it childish? The Christians of the 1st Century came from a lot of different backgrounds and had to work hard to work together. As the Apostle Paul challenged Christians in the city of Ephesus he challenged them to accept individual differences, “… until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. “ (Ephesians 4:13). Bossiness was not to be viewed as a sign of maturity, a willingness to wo
Read more