"Hope on all levels..."
by: friar Jaime Zaragoza, OFM Conv.
I was given the opportunity to do a ride-along with a police officer in Shamokin, Pennsylvania. In this Anthracite Coal Region, drugs have become a major problem, younger generations leaving for college and not returning to care for their town has become a problem, and, most of all, the forced downsizing of the police force has become a problem. On arriving, I found out that there are eight full-time officers that make up the department, plus two new officers right out of the academy. I could not believe that eight officers were all that they had. Officer Josh allowed me to follow him for a shift.
I was expecting to see corruption on all
levels, but instead I saw, and experienced, hope on all levels. On this ride-along, I was enlightened by the
vision of closeness with the people and law enforcement. Officer Josh was firm but caring, was always
searching for truth, and was honest when correcting injustice. This is not what I was expecting.
In these relationships that I witnessed were one of the many forms of hope that I felt was needed for Shamokin. For myself, I was able to understand somewhat more clearly that, “not only in the liberation of a people is God revealed as the living God, but also within Israel (Shamokin) by defending all those who are victims of injustice,”[1] and Officer Josh was an instrument helping this come true. In listening to him speak, even though it was not said directly, I understood the importance of the fact that, “we must choose life, justice, and the living God. If justice is to be established, we must become advocates of the poor.”[2]
Therefore, in my experience I can now see that when plugging into a developing town in the United States, we must be able to recognize that the minority might be in place we might not expect, and all in the town need us from the highest to the lowest levels. To understand, “that if a society is to be born, it will emerge from the grass roots,”[3] and we must be alongside our sisters and brothers to recover and defend the struggling dream of Shamokin and all places in distress.
I was given the opportunity to do a ride-along with a police officer in Shamokin, Pennsylvania. In this Anthracite Coal Region, drugs have become a major problem, younger generations leaving for college and not returning to care for their town has become a problem, and, most of all, the forced downsizing of the police force has become a problem. On arriving, I found out that there are eight full-time officers that make up the department, plus two new officers right out of the academy. I could not believe that eight officers were all that they had. Officer Josh allowed me to follow him for a shift.
In these relationships that I witnessed were one of the many forms of hope that I felt was needed for Shamokin. For myself, I was able to understand somewhat more clearly that, “not only in the liberation of a people is God revealed as the living God, but also within Israel (Shamokin) by defending all those who are victims of injustice,”[1] and Officer Josh was an instrument helping this come true. In listening to him speak, even though it was not said directly, I understood the importance of the fact that, “we must choose life, justice, and the living God. If justice is to be established, we must become advocates of the poor.”[2]
Therefore, in my experience I can now see that when plugging into a developing town in the United States, we must be able to recognize that the minority might be in place we might not expect, and all in the town need us from the highest to the lowest levels. To understand, “that if a society is to be born, it will emerge from the grass roots,”[3] and we must be alongside our sisters and brothers to recover and defend the struggling dream of Shamokin and all places in distress.
[1] This
Land is Home to Me, pg 24.
[2] This
Land is Home to Me, pg 29.
[3] This Land is Home to Me, pg
34.
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