Character tests

Our community is being tested right now. Nevaeh Buchanan, a 5 year-old girl, has been missing for a week. The police and volunteers have conducted a massive search of the community, processed hundreds of tips, and are continuing to search for this precious little girl. For more on the searches and news, go here.

But there also have been a number of rumors spread through the community about persons of interest in the case. I'm not entirely sure what a "Person of Interest" is other than to say that he/she is not a suspect. But the media seize on these individuals and then all sorts of fun begins.

Monroe is inundated with TV trucks from Detroit and Toledo, and helicopters fly over the city, especially near the noon and 5 p.m. newscasts. Maybe it's just a human reaction that, in the absence of new information, to start to let our minds run wild. But some of the rumors that have appeared in this case are appealing to our baser instincts, not the better angels of our nature.

Don't misunderstand my thought please. I'm not saying we should be like Pollyana. But we should withhold judgment until the facts are in. In the mean time, prayer is needed. Pray for the police for wisdom. Pray for the searchers. Pray for Nevaeh. Pray for her family. And most of all pray that God's will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. This world is sick with sin, and Nevaeh's disappearance is one symptom of that sickness. It is a spiritual battle as well as a temporal issue to stop things like this from happening.

May we be known as a community that fought that fight on our knees. Not one that turned on itself with recrimination and accusation.