Police Blotter

Visiting with family last week in Boulder City, NV, I glanced at the Police Blotter in The Boulder City Review. One report was of a bird stuck in some wiring, which officers freed in 12 minutes. A variety of other innocuous "crimes" were reported. Here's my favorite: “Officers received a call about a dishwasher with water and smoke coming out of it. Less than three minutes later an officer responded with a fire extinguisher. The officer thought it was steam coming from the dishwasher rather than smoke but still requested the fire department to respond. The fire department determined it was steam. They unplugged the dishwasher and advised the owner to call an appliance repair person." Such is the life of a small-town cop!

My first thought was, “Wouldn’t it be great to live in a place where the most serious crime was a steaming dishwasher!” A few days ago, where I live in Sonoma County, CA, robbers kicked in the doors of three homes in an attempt to steal drugs. Forty-five minutes away, a gunman opened fire in a veterans' home, killing three workers and taking his own life. 

Such stories are so common that we barely notice them any longer. We’ve come to accept these occurrences as the norm in our fallen world. Don’t you long for a “new heaven and earth” where we’re told “no longer will there will be any curse” (Rev.22:3) and Jesus promises, “I am making everything new." (Rev.21:5). In the meantime, we groan, eagerly awaiting the day of our deliverance (Romans 8:23). Of course, God fills our lives with many rich blessings, but we know sweeter times lie ahead for us, so wonderful we can't even imagine them, where we'll be free from worry, fear and sorrow...and that even includes worries over such earth-shaking matters as "steaming dishwashers"!