..entrance

One time in 7th grade I had my cd's stolen from the locker room while I was in PE class. I was really mad for a while, for far too long actually, but in the end prayed for the salvation of the thief, since they were all Christian music. Last week I had my bike light stolen outside of my internship. Whatever. I guess not too much has been taken from me in my life and the feeling of violation is not something that I experience a lot.

Transition: I woke up at around 4:39 today to fairly loud voices in the kitchen. One was obviously Cory and another man with a broken African accent talking about Gatorade and omelets. I was rather confused as to what was going on, eventually just concluding that it was a refugee from his internship... over for early morning breakfast... which doesn't make any sense. After about 10 minutes of confused ease-dropping I fell back into sleep only to get woken up a few minutes later but Cory asking to talk.

Apparently I was wrong, the Rastafarian man from the Ivory Coast was not a displaced refugee looking for breakfast but a man looking for musical instruments (it turned out that he was both). Cory woke up when he was exiting our house; banjo, autoharp, and electric guitar in tow. He woke up and invited him in, asking if he was hungry and they made a meal together. They were able to have a good conversation on the porch over breakfast while the loot still waited on the sidewalk, evidence of the infraction. The man left, apologizing about the situation and without the objects.

Interpretation: I am very very proud of Cory. I think that his behavior and response shows the depth of his love and character. I am very happy that a hungry man was fed, even though we didn't have cheese. I am thankful that we had food for him to eat. I am thankful that there was a conversation to be had. I am thankful that even if all of the objects had been taken, it would have still been okay. I am thankful that Cory woke up.

I am also really confused because someone walked into our house this morning and wanted to take things. There is a part of me underneath the happiness of the ending that is angry, violated, and slightly nervous. It is great that Cory is amazing and that Mr. Rastafarian was docile and compliant. Knowing both of those things post factum is great and reassuring. Still a big part of my understanding of the story is confusion: how do we respond as a house filled with valuable people, not just valuable things? is it alright to feel violated when really, at the end of the day, it's only things and they are meaningless? how do we respond in faith as a house, knowing that God is sovereign and in control? is it okay to feel scared?