"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the
field, which a man found and hid again, and from joy over it he goes and sells
all that he has and buys that field" (Matt. 13:44). "Again, the
kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one
pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and brought it" (Matt. 13:45-46).
In this series of people who have impacted on my life, I would
be remiss if I did not introduce you to the person that I feel was most
responsible for our developing the Village. He was a young man that I had
the misfortune of working with while working at the Juvenile Hall in a western
state. I say misfortune because he had tremendous potential but,
potential without means and drive is not a key to success. Unfortunately
he had done a very poor job of choosing his parents.
I had seen Dennis come through Juvy on three separate occasions,
each time for nuisance-type crimes; but this particular time it was the crime
we all dreaded, he had taken the life of his neighbor. The deep tragedy
of this story is that the neighbor was his one and only friend and had taken
Dennis under her wing.
But this particular night something triggered and he stabbed the
women to death. When questioned as to why, Dennis said they got into an
argument over what color of paint she was painting the living room.
In the ensuing weeks, as they prepared Dennis for trial, a
conflict arose between two counties as to who was going to prosecute
Dennis. The crime occurred in one country, not the county of his
residence, and there was a great deal of money involved in this decision
since Dennis was only sixteen and he would, in all probability, spend most of
his remaining life in prison.
There was no question that Dennis was guilty, and no
question that he would spent most of the rest of his life in a secure
environment, but the question of jurisdiction raged on for months. During this
time we, the keepers of his person in the Juvenile Hall, watched the gradual and
increased escalation of the deterioration of this young lad.
By the time of the final hearing that would determine who would
pay had worked its way through the legal system to the State Supreme Court,
Dennis did not have the mental capacity to know what was going on.
Instead of commitment to the state prison system, he was committed to the State
Mental Health system and sent to a maximum security hospital for the criminally
insane.
At the moment the powers- that-be passed down their judgment
that Dennis was to be locked away for the duration of his life – Eagle Village
was born in my mind and heart. I went home that day and informed the
Bride of My Youth, I would either find some way to help these kids or I would
train to become a plumbers helper. God heard my prayer and the rest of
the story is history,
Soooo, young friends, keep in mind that in the midst of the
tragedies we are sometimes confronted by God-Who through Paul wrote, "And we know that God causes
all things to work for good to those who love God, to those who are called
according to His purpose" (Rom.
8:28). But be advised it sometimes takes a chunk of our lives before we realize
what that "good" is.
We could call Eagle Village "Dennisville".
Blessings,
Gramps
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