Wednesday, June 14, 2006

What We Left Behind

So this is what we have left behind. It happened less than a block away from our house, 3 days after we left. My kids walked the dog by the scene of this crime every day for the last 4 years.
Philadelphia - Police were scrambling yesterday to track down killers from a bloody weekend, but made no arrests in the slaying of an 18-year-old man at an Olney park or a 51-year-old man shot dead in Southwest Philadelphia.

In addition to the killings, six other people were wounded - at least one critically - in shootings around the city during the weekend, police said. No arrests were made in any of those shootings.
...
The 18-year-old, a Latino shot in the head, was found dead Sunday evening in Fisher Park, at North Seventh and West Spencer Streets. The 51-year-old, also shot in the head, was found about 2 a.m. Sunday in the 5500 block of Pentridge Street.

As of yesterday, the number of homicides in Philadelphia stood at 149. During the first five months of 2005, there were 155 murders.

You can read the whole thing here...
What's interesting about this is that I don't simply feel relieved, or glad to be gone. This was our neighborhood. I find myself wondering if I would have recognized this young man who was slain.

It must have happened right here at the base of this tree. Here's our family photo taken this spring less than 50 yards from the very spot. And here's what it looks like in winter - beautiful, white, pristine.

I am indeed thankful for God's protection while we lived in Philly - we grew to love our neighborhood, and especially the people we met there. Lots of hurt, lots of brokenness, but all created in the image of God, and then fallen in the image of Adam. I'm not simply thankful to be gone - I really find myself longing to see these neighborhoods redeemed. News like this actually makes me miss it more, in a wierd kind of way, since I'd like to be back there trying to be part of a solution.

The gospel is the only thing that is going to truly solve our problems in society, and change will only happen one heart at a time...

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