cops with cookies in the park

tonight, i went downtown with a friend to see an outdoor movie in moore square park. an interesting crowd had gathered together for the occasion, including some of the folks experiencing homelessness who often sleep in the park. after the movie, i saw a police officer approach two men who were seemingly homeless. this would normally be a familiar scene, which would usually end in the men being asked to leave the area. however, what ensued gave me a small glimpse into what the kingdom of heaven must be like. there was a concession stand selling some snacks, and apparantly they had some leftover, because the police officer started handing these homeless men a bunch of leftover cookies. he then moved to where some children were sitting and gave one to each of them. as i watched the scene unfurl, i couldn't help but laugh at how odd it was to see a law enforcement officer giving out sweets to homeless folks and kids alike. but what a beautiful picture! i wanted to ask him if he'd consider replacing his gun with a sleeve of fig newtons or something and just hand out cookies all day. imagine such a thing! it makes me long for the day when we'll all dance together in the dream of God, casting aside all our prejudice and hatred and just love one another and love our Creator. if a police officer giving out cookies seems odd and peculiar to us, imagine how odd and peculiar a God who gives out grace to a bunch of sinners and who lays His own life down for the entire world! how odd! and how wonderful! i've said it before and i'll say it again, our Lord delights in foolishness and works in strange ways.