To protect and serve

I watched the film "Brooklyn's Finest" recently. It is a sad, violent story about cops, criminals and the thin line between the two in New York City. The film doesn't offer a very flattering view of law enforcement — a growing trend in main stream entertainment.

What the film did offer was some food for thought about the dangers of trying to find meaning in your life in the wrong way. The film centered on three cops — one a beat cop nearing retirement who had no purpose for his life and no will to live it; the second a narcotics detective struggling with mounting debts as a result of his large family and the third an undercover office who'd been in his post so long he was starting to forget who he was. All their stories were very sad. All three sought meaning and direction, but they went about it in the wrong way.

The first cop tried to fill the void in his life with an unhealthy relationship that had no chance of providing him the comfort he sought. The second became obsessed with money and angry that God wasn't providing what he wanted when he wanted it. He became so focused on what he didn't have that, even when presented with it, he failed to appreciate all that he had been given. The third cop spent so long trying to be someone he wasn't that he lost sight of who he was and what he wanted.

All three, in their own way, offer good lessons for us. We need to fill the void, or God-shaped hole in our lives by turning to Jesus. Second, we need to be patient and lean on him. Strength comes from waiting on the Lord, not harboring resentment and bitterness about what we don't have. Third, we have to seek the truth and live according to his purpose. That's the way to find peace in our lives. It doesn't take much for our lives to go pretty far off the tracks.

"[There's a] thin line between heaven and here." —Bubbles, from "The Wire."