Maybe they aren't capable
They had it hard
Life wasn't easy for them
Broken, rotto, no fixi, she no worka no more
We are capable, dear reader. We have the capacity to help, to heal, to hold; to hit, to hurt, to hurl. We are capable. I am able to be of assistance, and I can destroy too.
I worked with young offenders in my twenties. My shift partner was a wise man, and taught me a little something about choices. I repeat his story (more on his story in a moment) whenever I hear someone make excuses for the criminally minded. The criminally minded are those that superimpose themselves, wherever they go, and onto whomever they are closest to. The criminally minded haven't a care about autonomy, boundaries, established borders; the criminally minded cross lines of demarcation, and mark territory like dogs do, leaving their scent in the most despicable and obvious ways - they may never get arrested for their indecencies, but the fact remains, they are the insidiously sneaking ones that delight in insulting the intelligence and sensibilities of the righteous and godly, aiming to agitate and rile the saintly, to behave in unbecoming retaliatory ways. Back to my shift partners story.
David grew up in a rough neighbourhood in Hamilton Ontario; his mother solo parented him, and his older brother. While other boys in his area took to criminal activities, he and his brother participated in sports, and paid attention in school. While his cohorts negatively gained criminal records, he and his sibling became positively responsible citizens. One set of boys to men are a burden on society, while the other set, are contributors to the general population. Same neighbourhood, same circumstances, same opportunities, different selection process. Interestingly, David had great insights into the mindset of the young male offenders housed in the open custody facility we worked in; ironically, he earned money that in turn, supplied them with their physical needs, through the paying of taxes, with a place to live, and food to eat, after breaking hearts and laws along the way. Someone has to pay, dear reader. Someone has to foot the bill, isn't that right?
With my bleeding heart, I would say to David things like, They had a rough childhood. David would respond, They choose; it is all about choices. The part of me that felt anguish for what these young men had experienced in their baby and childhoods, had me not wanting to face the cold hard facts, that they willfully injured, insulted, irreparably wounded and or killed, other people, not because they had been wounded first, but because they chose so horribly, that the ramifications were extreme and irreversible.
The roster of young offenders I met covered a full range of law breakers. Many had committed heinous crimes, all before the age of seventeen. I met a young man that drank and drove and killed; there was a violent seventeen year old that assured me he would murder in his future. I met young rich kids that enjoyed breaking and entering, and destroying for the fun of it. I met drug addicts and dealers, and pedlars of contraband; there was a paedophile in our midst, and this information was kept from the staff, but leaked to us somehow - the truth always comes out - and I can see in hindsight how one might want to keep this information out of the minds of those that may be outraged in the knowing. As I type I feel anger welling inside and tears, tingling my nose, at the thought of the little children that were marred and maimed, their innocence stolen from them by a wicked, depraved, and dirty violator. Funny, isn't it dear reader, that the paedophile had to be protected from the other offenders, and from the staff too - his law breaking was of such a vulgar and violent nature, that souls scream out, Kill him, kill him... This type of indecent assault assails the very essence of those that deeply love people, especially children. No matter the criminal, paedophiles are the most despised and hated naturally, by one and all. Where is the protection for innocent and vulnerable children, I ask you?
Someone has to pay, and here I suggest, that we all pay in one way or another, when laws are broken, autonomy is disregarded, and liberties are taken where there ought to be a sweet appreciation for each person as an individual, with rights to choose, without being imposed upon.
Dear one, we are each one of us, capable, of choosing. We have all suffered injury, loss, disappointment, heartache, wounds that felt like they may never heal, and yet, it is how we proceed from there that determines whether or not we get our pound of flesh from others in retaliation, or decide to be kind, thoughtful, other focused, and generous, no matter what we have gone through or experienced in our distant or recent past. Here is what I really mean:
You are not broken, beyond repair, or without the capability to make good of your life. You are just as capable to spin things around to the positive, as anyone else you encounter. You choose, and you choose again, and often, we all do. What makes you think you aren't capable of choosing rightly, righteously even? What excuse do you have, to explain why you aren't a contributing member of society, if this is the case?
I could, if I wanted to, choose very badly. I could be mean and nasty, steal and disrupt. I could insinuate and suggest, and cause distress and angst. I have lots of reasons I can quickly tabulate to reassure myself that I am right in the doing to even a score, but man alive, just the thought of being that wicked, makes my nose tingle once more, with the start of tears.
Why o why, would I want to give in to hate?
With every choice we make there are attached therein, consequences, conceding, and a sort of confession! Your conscience confesses what is happening within, with every choice you make, and that is telltale! We are what we say and do, dear one, and this is important for us to take note of, when next we are ready to choose in significant ways.
Luke 12:2-3
For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.
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