Christian Reflection and Prayer

The two Amish girls, seven and 12 years old, were
watching the family's roadside farm stand in Oswegatchie,
New York. When a couple pulled up and invited them to
see their puppy, the girls jumped at the opportunity.

They went to look at the puppy, and then they
disappeared. They disappeared for an entire day.

Eventually, the girls showed up at the home of Jeffrey
and Pamela Stinson, a couple who live about 15 miles
from the spot from which the girls had been kidnapped.
The cold, wet, hungry girls ate a small watermelon and
then asked to be taken home.

The Stinsons debated about getting the police involved,
but then thought it best to honor the girls' request.
Thinking back, Jeffrey Stinson explained: "We never
gave it any thought about implications or dangers. We
knew those girls had to get home." And home those
girls went: home to joy, tears and welcoming arms.

And that, my friends, usually would be the end of the story.

It isn't. You see, the grateful Amish family heard the
Stinson's garage had burned down while they were on
vacation. Wishing to show their gratitude in a tangible form,
the family promised to give the Stinsons a "garage raising.
" For those of you who don't know, a garage raising is like
a barn raising, but smaller.

And so it was, the two girls who had been kidnapped, their
11 brothers and sisters, their parents, grandparents, and
relatives all came together and a garage went up at the
Stinson home. A garage is there, a visible token of
appreciation for an act of kindness.

Our nation has been shocked by the footage of football star
Ray Rice knocking his now-wife Janay out cold in an elevator.
What most people still don’t realize is that this kind of abuse
is far too common and almost never talked about.

Rather than taking the opportunity to raise awareness about
domestic and sexual violence, “Fox and Friends” chose to
mock and blame the victim. The news hosts criticized victims
by saying they were “sending a terrible message” by staying
with their abusers and joked that women should simply “take
the stairs.”

Fox News is taking time on their show to mock and criticize
victims of domestic violence. As Christians, let’s send a
message that we want to see Fox News support women,
not degrade them.

News outlets in America need to do their part to spread the
message that abuse and domestic violence are WRONG.
But when Fox News makes jokes about the abuse that
Janay Rice experienced, they are sending the opposite
message: violence against women is a great punchline.

Abuse of women is not a laughing matter. Click here to
tell Fox News to run an honest segment about violence
against women.

Scripture tells us that Jesus cared for women who were
downtrodden by society and abused by their
contemporaries. Let’s remind Fox News that Jesus’
example should compel us to show love to women
who have been abused.

In faith,
Beau, Janelle, and the rest of the Sojourners team

"the last will be first, and the first, last" (Matthew 20:16).

You probably heard the news story that Pope Francis will
visit the Philippines in January, 2015. But you may not
have heard this story of the Pope's earlier visit to New
York City. It seems His Holiness was traveling to a much
anticipated, historic meeting with the Secretary General
of the United Nations, and restless from his long journey,
was eager to arrive at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport.
As the the pilot started his approach, due to unsafe wind
conditions, he was instead instructed to land at Newark
Airport in New Jersey. When the plane finally touched
down, the Pope, now a bit agitated, was whisked away in
a limousine to his meeting. With only minutes to spare,
he sat anxiously in the back seat of the vehicle. "Can you
drive a bit faster my son?" the Pope gently asked the
chauffeur. "I'm terribly sorry Your Holiness," the limousine
driver begged, "but I can't afford another speeding ticket.
I already have been warned that if I receive one more
violation I will lose my license."

The Pope responded sympathetically to the worried driver,
then asked him to stop the car. To the chauffeur's
astonishment, the Pope got out of the limousine, tapped
on the driver's door and told him that he would drive the
rest of the way. The driver moved to the back seat and
the Pope got behind the wheel. Driving much faster than
the chauffeur would have dared, the Pontiff darted in and
out of traffic, narrowly missing several parked cars.
Observing the speeding limousine, a police officer promptly
signaled the vehicle to pull over. "Let me handle this one,
" the officer announced to his partner. "Before I'm through w
ith this guy he'll have at least five tickets!"

After only a minute, the visibly shaken officer returned to
his squad car with his ticket book still unopened. "You
didn't write him a single ticket?" his partner protested.
"What happened?"

"I couldn't write him a ticket," the first officer said
sheepishly. "This guy is a big shot, I mean, a really big
shot!"

"Who was it?" his partner asked. "The Mayor of New York
City. . . The Governor of New York State. . . The Chief of
Police? Don't tell me you pulled over the New York City
Police Chief!"

"No, he's bigger than all of them!" the first officer insisted.

"Bigger than all of them? Who's bigger than them?"

"Well," said the first officer, "I'm not exactly sure who he is
but the Pope is his chauffeur!"

"the last will be first, and the first, last" (Matthew 20:16).