Strengthening Your Resolve

A letter from Don Nekrosius

The Wednesday Journal recently reports that your offices experienced a break-in recently and lost equipment that you probably use to forward the mission of the food pantry.  I hope it doesn't hurt too much. There can be a feeling of violation when strangers enter a private space and rifle through areas and remove items.  The Food Pantry is different form a home, though, in that you serve the needs of those who are hungry, and it might seem ironic that someone takes valuable items from you who do much to provide invaluable assistance. 

It's hard to know the mind of a thief. What is there about a world where there are so many goods that entice our interest? What if we don't have the dough-ray-me, as Woody Guthrie put it, to purchase the things we desire? That doesn't lessen the attraction.  We often want most what we cannot have. It should not be a surprise that some people take what they cannot afford, search for the advantage they only merit by their boldness, cunning, and risk-taking. 

I had a brief conversation with a police officer at a barbershop the other day, and he said that it is very difficult for an offender to be charged with a felony any more given the litigious nature of the times we live in. The loss the Journal reports apparently qualifies as felonious theft given the dollar amount of the stolen items. 

The Pantry is not a place of wealth, only enterprise.  The church whose basement quarters you use may look to someone like an imposing edifice, but "poor as a church mouse" likely has some truth to it. To someone who has little, a little that someone else has may look like a lot.  Still, the rule remains: Thous shalt not steal. 

Whoever did the theft took away from an effort to help people who rely on the food pantry for nutrition and sustenance.  It would be very unfortunate if you took this event as any kind of repudiation to your efforts.  The world is full of weakness and we humans are imperfect creatures.  We give in to temptation, sometimes find exhilaration in doing something we shouldn't do, fool ourselves into thinking we're outsmarting the other guy or the system to our advantage. 

I hope you are not sad or angry or have hurt feelings.  I hope having a challenge strengthens your resolve to do the good work you do.  I hope you forgive the weak sinner whose action creates that challenge.  And i hope you know how you make all of us better by your presence, your example, your realizing the truth that we are all in this together -- the weak who sin, the hungry who rely on your work, the strong and faithful who serve.