Thankful

Tonight, I backed into a truck in the parking-lot. Not my most glorious moment. I am fine but my car now has a little bit more character and personality then it had before. I walked away annoyed with myself, but oddly enough pretty thankful. I was thankful for two reasons. First for the body of Christ because my friend Dave came to the rescue. Dave is my California dad who bails me out or protects me when I need a male presence. Since I met him in India over three years ago, his family has always been a blessing to me in so many ways. I also found myself really thankful for the police. This semester, I have spent a lot of time studying different countries and their infrastructure and systems. And one of the most important thing needed for a countries success as a state is for the people to feel safe and the ability to force law. I know that the US police system can be corrupt; however, I was not at all afraid to call the police. I knew that they would not ask for a bribe, that they would deliver the necessary service, and that I would be dealt with in a respectable manner. This is not true for the majority of the world. Most of the world would do everything they could to not involve the police because they are corrupt, abuse their power, and instill fear in the people. So the fact that I was relieved to know that he called the police to deal with our situation is a unique privilege I hold as an American citizen. So I walked away thankful.