All The Wistful Creatures
Today is the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi, the Catholic monk best known for his intentional poverty and his association with animals. One of his most famous prayers, offered on behalf of animals, is this:
Hear our humble prayer, O God, for our friends, the animals, especially for those who are suffering; for animals that are overworked, underfed and cruelly treated; for all the wistful creatures in captivity, that beat their wings against bars; for any that are hunted or lost or deserted, or frightened or hungry; for all that must be put to death.
We entreat for them all Thy mercy and pity, and for those who deal with them, we ask a heart of compassion and gentle hands and kindly words. Make us, ourselves, to be true friends to animals and so to share the blessings of the Merciful. Amen.
How interesting that on this particular day, I read a story about a poor creature who beat his wings against the bars for years, a story that saddened and angered me deeply. Here is the story.
May Christ bless and protect Mr. Spriestersbach and his sister. The “system” that most of us have trusted for so long is irretrievably broken. It behooves us to remember this, because once you fall into the system — whether the medical or the legal or the corporate system — it is very difficult to climb out of its ravenous and merciless gears.
Saint Francis of Assisi, pray for us, through Christ our Lord.
~ S.K. Orr
5 Comments
Brian
The people who work in very busy courts and law enforcement become cold-hearted over time. Add to the scenario, that psych-patients are lumped in with criminal cases and you have a recipe for disaster.
Truly compassionate and diligent court and legal officials, including police officers, need to be held up as examples to others. The “burnout-factor” of dealing with liars and criminals constantly, plays a role here as well.
My brother-in-law was a “booking sergeant” at my former city’s jail. His job was to try to get an accurate ID for all of his “guests”. He’s been retired for 10 years, and is just now starting to lose a little of that cold-hearted, jadedness. His career diary would be called something like: “Lies, and the Lying, Liars who tell them.”
The person that was responsible for properly identifying Mr. Spreitersbach, needs to be disciplined publicly. Someone didn’t do his job (fingerprints)……maybe a result of our brilliant new hiring standards, resulting in “equity”…….just a hunch……I’m a bit jaded as well.
JAMES
Brian, I could never do a law enforcment related job myself, but I am thankfull those who can.
admin
I have to disagree with you, Brian. I worked for several years as a police officer. I am very well acquainted with the mentality of police officers and their motives for seeking out “law enforcement” as a career. And I can say with authority that today’s police officers are no more “public servants” than politicians are. Perhaps they once were, in a better age…I don’t know. What I do know is that most police officers now are bullies with badges. They will follow their orders to the very end, because their paychecks and pensions depend on it. Today’s cops (or “LEOs”, as they like to be called) are the ones who will stand by while a store is looted and burned, but will bodyslam a young mother to the ground because she’s not wearing a Covidish face-diaper. The cops that are out there in the patrol cars and sitting behind the desks are as lazy and stupid and self-absorbed as the people working at Walmart or Google. The difference is that they wear badges and can arrest you for simply asking them why they stopped you. DISORDERLY CONDUCT! RESISTING ARREST! FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH A LAWFUL ORDER!
Americans should stop this infantile nonsense of looking at cops (and yes, the military…I’m looking at you, General Milley) as heroes. These people are paid enforcers for the system that is even now telling parents they are domestic terrorists if they question a school board’s decision to indoctrinate their own children with all sorts of vile and evil trash.
The police officers of today will shoot you dead if you disobey them. There’s no “minimum force necessary” guidance anymore. If you dare to disagree with them, they will kill you and get away with it. They’re not heroes. They are paid instruments of the system that is even now grinding your face into the dirt and ordering you to like it. They will kill your grandchildren and call it “lawful authority.”
The police are not our friends. They do not “protect and serve” us. They are as corrupt and evil as the government, the medical industry, the political machinery, and the Vatican. Anyone who believes otherwise is going to get an object lesson in reality when they have to actually deal with the police.
Yes, cops and lawyers and people in the legal system get cold hearted. But they’re not victims. They’re simply cold-hearted. And they take their orders from people who hate you and your children and your grandchildren. I defy anyone to prove me wrong.
JAMES
Being wrongfully imprisoned is bad enough, but not so much as a “woops, sorry about that”.
This is the reason capitol punishment is so wrong. There is no way to fix a mistake there.
Mr. Spriestersbach’s situation is a self imposed life sentence. Afraid to leave his sisters property.
admin
Yes, James, the most egregious thing about this sad story is the complete nonchalance of all the authority figures/organizations. They simply do not care that they ruined a man’s life. They apparently have done nothing to address the systemic flaws that brought this about in the first place.
Your remark about the poor fellow having imposed a life sentence of exile on himself is accurate and penetrating. How very sad. And the world watching these sorts of things all the time…and notes that no one is ever brought to justice. But we can take comfort that Saint George of Fentanyl got multiple taxpayer-funded funerals. Because that’s what’s really important.