Proverbs 20: 3  Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor; only fools insist on quarreling.

2 Chronicles 16:9b  In this you have done foolishly: therefore from now on you shall have wars.

Foolishness of Hate and Violence

The waste of life, the carnage, and the foolishness of war abounds through history. Despite this we have men and women who serve and sometimes die with courage and honor. We had a small scale war in our small upstate South Carolina town about 11 years ago when two of our law enforcement officers were gunned down over 10 feet of right of way for a highway widening project.  Residents living up to two miles from the home heard the gunfight as it went on through the night.

It is tragic and foolish that a dispute over highway department purchase of right of ways ended in so much loss. The officers who lost their lives are just like our American soldiers, serving and following the orders of their superiors. They fight for the well being and safety of us all. Their deaths seem so pointless and cruel. They were victims of an emotionally, unstable family.

We read later that the family were antigovernment radicals who felt persecuted by government officials such as law enforcement and county tax collectors. They were outsiders and had moved to our area in the late 1990s from New Hampshire. They had run ins with the law in New Hampshire as well, and the son was wanted on outstanding warrants. The son had also been arrested in our area for domestic violence.

The father of the family and the son were at the home when the shooting started. They shot one of the law enforcement officers on the front porch and then drug him in the house where he bled to death. They shot and instantly killed the second officer while he was standing in the driveway. Father and son were charged with two murders, but the father was ruled incompetent to stand trial and sentenced to a mental institution.  The wife, who knew of the plan beforehand and did nothing to warn others, was convicted of accessory. Both the wife and father died in prison and mental institutions, respectively. Their son, who was convicted of both murders, is serving on death row.

 

Wisdom of Peace

Today, the house stands empty and abandoned across from our old church. Sometimes, I wonder what if we had visited them? Could we have made a difference?  It never crossed my mind at the time to visit the homes near the church. We drove by them and went to church, not knowing the people living in them were capable of such deeds.

The two officers had families, children, and spouses. They were well respected. It was one of the worst days in history for our town.

There are old battlegrounds like this one worldwide where all that remains are beautiful trees and flowers. You drive by and you would never know from the beauty of the trees that such tragedies had occurred on the grounds. The beauty reminds us, however, that wisdom exists in peace.   I wonder if the family noticed how beautiful their tree was in the autumns that they lived there? What if they had focused on the beauty, love, and peace represented in the regal tree?

This essay was written for the Two Shoes Tuesday hop. I am also joining these hops.

                          –