What a world we live in when you come to church to worship God on Sunday and are robbed getting out of your car. The pastor of your church is held captive in the church garage for fear of the robbers who are waiting outside, and the same pastor of your church holds a man in his arms and gives last rites as he dies from being shot on the North Side of St. Louis.
Gunshots, robbery and death are the norm on the North Side of St. Louis. How far downhill do we have to go? Where do we go for help? Where are the voices? The telephone lines should be lit up with calls to the mayor, aldermen, police chief, Neighborhood Watch, everyone who has a title.
There is a young lady, Barbara Scales, who has taken it upon herself to try to clean up the neighborhood. She personally takes Operation Brightside bags and attaches them to signposts. After they are filled, she goes back to empty the bags and replace them with new bags.
The bags don’t look the best, but Marcus Street is squeaky clean. She has been seen going into other neighborhoods and cleaning up their trash and putting it into bags too.
We really need trash cans on the corners, but the city does not seem to be able to provide them for the North Side. It would seem that people would be inclined to help Barbara with keeping the North Side clean, but if the police are not keeping it clean then I suppose anything goes in NorthSt. Louis.
People are inclined to keep what is clean, beautiful and comfortable the same way that they see it. If you walk or drive down a street of quiet and solitude, you tend to stay quiet, or if a street is neat and clean for several blocks you may think twice before throwing down that empty cup.
It all has to do with the mental process depending on who you are. Keeping the North Side clean is important, but the greatest concern of all is the loss of life in North St. Louis.
Because of the crime, evening church activities were cancelled for fear of church members being on church grounds after dark. An aging church membership and the young volunteer who waters the flowers after work can no longer do so for fear of safety during the evening hours.
You cannot stop living because of things like this, and your faith must be steadfast. My prayer it that there will be divine intervention or a miracle in North St. Louis very soon for the safety of us all.
