Keep your lives free from the love of money
and be content with what you have.
Hebrews 13:5
Staten Island was one of the hard-hit areas of New England that suffered from the huge storm surge of Hurricane Sandy. Flooding is widespread, and many families lost everything that was in the first floor of their homes. After the storm was over, they lost a great deal more - at times, at the hands of their neighbors. While the residents are slogging through waist-deep water trying to salvage anything from their ravaged homes, they are losing further personal property from looting.
One man told CNN that his neighbors were roaming from house to house, banging on doors, and yelling to see if anyone was home. If they got no response, they busted into the home and took everything they could carry. A retired UPS truck driver had been collecting tools and other equipment to start a small engine repair business. He heard the men in the neighborhood yelling and banging on doors. He shouted out his window at them, but they wdid not respond. In the morning, he found that they had pushed over his shed and stolen every useable tool and piece of equipment. There was nothing of value left.
I have never understood the thought process of any person who believes that they are entitled to take whatever they can get, whether it belongs to them or not. There are times when it seems that responsibility, respect and decency are fast disappearing from our society. To lose your possessions to a massive storm is one thing; to lose your possessions to the selfish thievery of your neighbors is quite another.
No comments:
Post a Comment