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!

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