Crime

Last Saturday, Tabor and I attempted to Sabbath together again. We got a later start than we wanted to, but eventually purchased metro day passes to explore the city by public transit. Unfortunately, the coffee shop we were planning to try out closed at 4pm, just about an hour before we got there... :( We decided to continue the adventure by hopping on the train up to Pasadena. We got some yummy dinner and coffee and explored a little bit. Then a friend of Tabor's picked us up with a couple of her friends and took us back to her place for pumpkin cookies and a movie.

We ended up finally leaving Pasadena around 10pm. We had planned out our return journey and decided it was fine to head back late since we wouldn't be passing through any particularly dangerous areas and would be dropped off by the bus only a block from my apartment. Due to many unforseen variables, the journey took much longer than expected... finally arriving home around 1230am! It was on the final leg of our journey that we were reminded of why being out late, especially on foot and public transit is not advised. We got off the subway about two miles north of where we live, planning to catch a bus just across the street right to my house. When we got up to ground level we found that the main road, Vermont, was completely closed off by cop cars, there were 3 helicopters circling the area with their spotlights shining, and squad cars were flying all over the place with their lights and sirens on. We had no idea what was going on... and neither did anyone else. Despite all of the apparent chaos, the road and sidewalks were packed, just like any other Saturday night. After waiting for our bus for about 20 mins (right at the corner where traffic was being diverted off of the main road), we decided that the bus might be turning off a block or two up the road. We headed up a block and found a big group of people eagerly awaiting our bus. The bus finally rolled up just before midnight. Thankfully, we soon arrived at my house, much later than expected, but safe and sound.

It was killing me not to know what was going on up the road on Vermont. I told Tabor to see if she could find anything on the internet when I dropped her off at her house and to text me if she found anything. She texted me and I just had to read the story for myself. It sounded fake... 2 undercover cops intervene after witnessing a gang-related shooting, both end up getting shot, one of the shooters gets caught and the other is running loose through Koreatown. Check out the story for yourself:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/10/two-undercover-police-officers-shot-wounded-in-koreatown.html

Even though I was completely exhausted from the day, I ended up staying up for another hour perusing the Neighborhood/Crime section of the LA Times website. I found a section that specified all of the homicides that have occurred in my neighborhood since 2007 - the most recent occurring just this past July. I looked up all of the violent and property crimes reported over the last several weeks in my neighborhood - including the Grand Theft Auto of one of my teammates cars, which occurred while we were in Oakland over Labor Day weekend. Then I compared my neighborhood to several others in South LA. My neighborhood is pretty bad, but the worst crime neighborhoods are just a little further south of me. I was shocked by the stats and found myself fighting feelings of fear and despair.

When you walk the streets of my neighborhood in broad daylight and stick to the safety of your home after dark, it's easy to forget the chaos and violence of the streets. It's a dark and broken world - full of violence and oppression. And while there are many reasons to despair, I want to be a person that does not let go of hope. Because one day, God will redeem this fallen world and set all things right. I am reminded of the sermon that I gave for my internship class...

17 "See, I will create 
   new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
   nor will they come to mind.
¹⁸ But be glad and rejoice forever
   in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
   and its people a joy.
¹⁹ I will rejoice over Jerusalem
   and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
   will be heard in it no more." (Isaiah 65:17-19)

I refuse to live in fear. I refuse to lose hope. I choose to be glad and rejoice in what the Lord will create. For He is a God that redeems all things.... and not just in the idealized New Heavens and New Earth, but here and now. Join me in praying for my neighborhood.