The Splendor is Gone

The Splendor is Gone
1 Samuel 4: 1b- 22

In his sermon yesterday, our rector (slightly apologetically) told us he had been watching a TV series about a psychopathic boy whom a police officer had adopted. The boy’s stepfather gave him a “code”: Don’t kill innocent people; make sure you have the evidence that the person is guilty; prepare carefully; don’t get caught. Our rector went on to tell us a story about his sister, who is a school principal in Watts in Los Angeles, the urban area where the 1965 race riots happened. The principal had been interviewing a student who had been selling marijuana in the school. He too had a “code”: Don’t get caught; don’t ever reveal the identity of your source; don’t fear a person such as your principal as much as you fear your suppliers...