Answers, Answers, Everywhere

March 29, 2015 

Several years ago a life-long friend of mine found himself in a world of hurt. He was clearly on his way out of this life when one of his children tracked him down, nursed him back to health and got him into a place where he could enjoy his remaining years and pay forward the blessings of this moment. Now, in my never-to-be-humble opinion, this is the way life ought to be handled – with tender loving care. In another instance, my brother wishing to assist an ageing aunt, helped find her a caregiver, then proceeded to visit regularly, take care of her physical, mental, and social needs without the slightest interest in what he might get in return.

My much older brother Glenn has always been willing to assist others because that is built into his DNA. He and I have hundreds of discussions about  NIMBY (not in my back yard) and the negative impacts of this virtually universal mind set. It has become even more painful over the years as we, as a community – as a society – increase our numbers of mentally different, socially compromised, and legally challenged with jail and prison time and felony backgrounds. Watch carefully as a person of “questionable” character comes into the personal space of a group in one of our communities. Eyebrows raise, internet access points are carefully searched, and meta-communications trespassing signs go up like umbrellas in a torrential rain storm.

Here is a scenario that is met thousands of times a day in our wonderful country.  A person spends four months in a county jail. In his county you pay for the privilege of going to jail. In addition, hospital charges from  unknown incidents occurring during his trip to the jail,  he now owes the jail system thousands  for his rent during his stay. Promises broken, no soap for a month, work for $1.65 an hour, prevention from working and paying his child support, losing his job, paying 1950’s phone charges, and $.95 for an envelope (stamps are contraband), he or she gets out of jail, with no place to stay, no income, no welcoming community to assist in his movement back to normalcy, this person is statistically guaranteed to return to the jail/prison system over and over again.

There is no question that people have always done dumb, illegal things. There is equally no doubt, they will continue as long as life on this planet continues. Those are irrefutable facts. What are we to do to bless the lives of those in our communities who are simply attempting to ensure the safety of loved ones and balance their critical needs with the needs of those who have betrayed the trust and laws of our society and become part of the world of evil? There is no special place for them on some remote island, or leper’s colony as in biblical times. There is no death sentence, or euthanasia society can or should inflict. Remember! These people – give or take one percent of our population at any given time – are someone’s child; someone’ father or mother. They are God’s children.

Compound our “jail” problem with hundreds of thousands of mentally different people who do not fit the convenient norms of current society; sprinkle in a few hundred thousand servicemen and women traumatized by years of war-time killing, maiming, and culturally disenfranchising; and a few million more who have been deprived of “the American dream” of a house, a car, and the opportunity to pay for such, and the thoughts of a traditional circumstance under which to grow and live becomes very opaque.  Once again, I refer to the law of love God and Jesus Christ have provided us. I believe our lives, our very existence, is predicated on a promise we shared with God in the preexistence to Love God, love our fellowmen, and love ourselves.

Thank you for the great opportunity of sharing my thoughts. I can no longer verbalize in the ways I have enjoyed in the past, so this is a wonderful exercise for me to see what my mind still has jammed up inside.

God bless each of us as we reach for the worthy desires of our hearts.

Duane Jacobs, Father, husband, grandfather, brother, uncle, cousin, and friend