Felony Evading
Chaplain Bill Wolfe
Llano County Sheriff's Department
Hi, and welcome once again to the August edition of the Chaplain's Corner. Here it is almost football season again and still no rain. It's gittin' mighty dusty out there on those unpaved county roads - not a lot of point in washing the patrol car when you raise a dust cloud at 20 mph. <sigh> Such is life in the summer in the Hill Country. Well, in any event, if you have your Texas Penal Code with you today, please turn with me to Chapter 38. J
Sec. 38.04. Evading Arrest or Detention.
(a) a person commits an offence if he intentionally flees from a person he knows is a peace officer attempting to arrest or detain him.
(b) an offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor, except that the offence is:
(1) a state jail felony if the actor uses a vehicle and the actor is in flight.
Chappy's common title: Running from the PO-leece.
This idea kind of jumped out at me just in the last couple of days, and it seemed to be the path to wander down this time out. Running from the police.something we all would agree isn't too smart, but it happens fairly often, and often for reasons that don't make sense except to the subject who's hooked it. I know there have been plenty of times when the subject would have just gotten a warning citation, and now he or she is looking at a SJF. J.P.D. - Just Plain Dumb.
I work at the Super S grocery store here as my second job, and I often tell the young people that I work with: "You might outrun my Crown Vic, but you can't outrun my radio." An internet friend of mine has a tagline that says: "You can run, but you'll just go to jail tired." But people try it nonetheless. You light them up and you're off to the races, praying that no one wrecks out before you get them stopped. They're not interested in why you tried to stop them (they have some preconceived idea that talking to you will be a bad thing), and they don't mentally stop to think about the possible consequences of what they're doing. And often as not when you DO get the vehicle stopped, the occupants bail on you and you find out you're a cop, not a track star.
OK, now for the application. (You knew a preacher doesn't tell a story without making a point, didn't you?) J
There are times when God "chases" some people. I don't know all the reasons, but it's often in response to someone praying earnestly for them.a grandparent, parent, spouse, possible-spouse, sibling or even a child. I feel pretty confident that one or more of my readers falls into that category today. God "lit you up" and off you went, running from God. You know, it's just as fruitless to run from God as to run from the police. How do I know you're running from God? Well, lessee.you look hard to find excuses for not going to church with your family. You change the subject every time your friend mentions what his Men's Ministry group is doing. You abruptly change directions when you see the Chaplain step out of his office. Need I go on? J
Just like trying to outrun my radio, when you try to outrun God you keep running into Christians every time you turn around. In the Psalms David talks about not being able to go any place where God isn't. (Psalm 139:7-12) The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah says in almost the exact words: "You can run, but you can't hide." Jeremiah 23:24.
Just like the subject who runs from the police thinking "he's gonna give me a ticket or take me to jail," the person who's running from God has the mistaken idea that God is out to wreck their life. They go OCD on what they think they'll have to give up and don't want to. The simple truth is that God never asks you to give up something that's good for you.
Just like you hope the knothead that's running doesn't crash and burn, you need to be careful you don't "wreck out." Running from God tends to make one grumpy and hard to live with, possibly ruining friendships and marriages - relationships that, once damaged, are often hard to restore.
So, what am I saying? If you're running from God, stop, stick your hands out the window, and give up. Put yourself in His "protective custody." It's the best move you can make. Give it some thought.
Talk with you next "shift."
Chaplain Bill
llanochaps@moment.net
