Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion. Psalm 112:4-5
So the New York Times has an article today on the lack-of-justice-system in the Bronx, New York City. It is a story with heartbreak and hopelessness twisted into every strand. The net of sorrow spreads out wide, pulling in the affected. Even me. I am now part of the story. Because now every morning I am going to lift up to the LORD a small troop of upright men and women who have chosen to live with grace and compassion in a dark underworld: the Bronx Defenders.
And each of us, particularly me, flip flip flip through the headlines. Every morning. I barely hesitated at Boston Marathon Blasts Kill 3 even though I know from Facebook that Dana Mahan in South Africa who went to Harvard surely knows many of the grieving souls. And U.S. Practiced Torture After 9/11, Nonpartisan Review Concludes made my stomach tighten but I did a quick build-a-hedge-of-protection excuse around my heart. But I stopped at “For 3 Years After Killing, Evidence Fades as a Suspect Sits in Jail” because I know something about suspects sitting in jail in the Bronx. Max and Andrea are moving there in August to defend them.
And my heart broke for the busy public defender who will be Max’s compadre. If she doesn’t give up by then because she has a caseload of one hundred Chad Hook stories. Camille M. Abate, on the staff of the Bronx Defenders, provides free legal representation to indigent defendants under a contract with the city.
It took three weeks for the police to settle on their suspect. The police showed a neighborhood drug dealer pictures from a security camera of the teenagers streaming out of the building on Southern Boulevard. At first the drug dealer, who had been shot in the shin five days before Mr. Lawyer was killed, told detectives he had been high and had not seen who shot him. But he later identified Mr. Hooks. He said the man had killed Mr. Lawyer too.
Some of the early descriptions of the killer were of someone 5 foot 8 and heavy; Mr. Hooks is 6 foot 3 and slender. There were no fingerprints. No gun was found. There was no evidence that Mr. Hooks knew the victim, making the question of motive vague.
The passage of time made nothing clearer. Nearly three years after identifying Mr. Hooks as the killer, the drug dealer swore to a new statement. He said that detectives had written his first statement implicating Mr. Hooks and that it was false. “The man is innocent and he should not be in custody,” the new statement said.
There were what would be more than 30 pointless court dates, as one side or the other would be busy with other cases or there were no judges to conduct the trial. At Rikers, Hook’s records showed a slide toward despair and violence. As the months in jail became years, Mr. Hooks sometimes seemed desperate. In 2010, after long stretches in a tiny room at Rikers where he spent 23 hours a day, he told a doctor he had tried to hang himself. “He has spent the last 11 months in punitive isolation following frequent fighting with both inmates and staff,” his hospital records said.
The longing in each heart is to be known. To have the camera panning the audience pause, hesitate, and consider. Hi Mom! Look at me! Mothers are good at that sort of thing.
But God? The Word who spoke the swirling cosmos into being. The One who declared it was good. Very good. Does He pause, hesitate, and consider?
That is the story of Jesus. Incarnate. The ultimate pause– lifted up, He defeated death. He defeated brokenness. It is finished. His grace is poured down around us to be experienced as reality. That was the Story of Pi. God’s continual mercy and provision in his solitary pilgrimage. And now Pi’s mission is clear, to tell his story, the story of a self-giving God of love who brings salvation for all of creation.
And we as those who believe. Who have come to know this self-giving God have a mission as well. The gospel. The good news. To live out and live into that beautiful Jesus story and continue to invite others into that story, as well. We can’t just tell someone what to believe, anymore. It’s not that easy in this Burning Man generation. We have to tell our story, connected to and a continuation of the Jesus story we love, and simply say, “Which story do you prefer? Which is the better story? … And so it goes with God.” I have to tell my story. To live it out and live into that beautiful Jesus story.
He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.His heart is established; he shall not be afraid. He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever.
This is the light in the darkness. Gracious, Full of compassion. Righteous.
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