I want to applaud all of you out there who fight the good fight and continue to be faithful. I want to commend all of you who knock even though some doors never open. To the lost, keep seeking because you’ll eventually find what you’re looking for. To those of you who ask and never receive, keep asking anyway.

The other day I was sitting around drinking coffee and fighting off a horrible toothache when I came across a story in Newsday about some schmuck out in Roosevelt. This guy decided that he didn’t like waiting for his prayers to be answered so he took out his anger on three innocent churches.

I want to share his name with you but if I did he would get exactly what he was looking for from the get-go. Recognition. Needless to say I don’t believe his actions are worthy enough to make the papers, so I’ll spare you his identity.

It’s a shame that even the most sacred of buildings aren’t safe from predators who stalk the night and hide in the shadows. You know what? Maybe it isn’t his fault really, maybe it’s society’s fault. You know how it goes — if someone isn’t happy with themselves they tend to blame everyone and everything around them. Maybe we should pat him on the back and tell him how sorry we are and next time we’ll do a better job for him. Let’s all hold hands and in one big collective shout tell him that it’s O.K. to desecrate holy property and it’s O.K. to use steel pipes to rip off screens and smash windows. Heck, maybe we should give our offerings to him.

Or we could have him perform community service on all three of the churches he vandalized. He could tidy up the sanctuary, vacuum the rugs and wash the windows that he so willingly smashed. Maybe even help hand out pamphlets come Sunday afternoons.

Here’s a thought. An irrational, against-the-grain, politically incorrect thought. Maybe, just maybe, we could forgive him? I don’t condone his actions one bit, but maybe he’s just a-down-on-his-luck type of guy who never received acknowledgement from above so he took out his anger on churches.

I wanted to bad mouth this dude, I wanted to give him a stiff kick in the pants, but decided not to — and I’ll tell you why. I cut the article from Newsday out and have it hanging in front of me. I’m looking in to his eyes because the paper so generously left us a mug shot to stew over. For some reason or another I can’t help feeling sorry for him.

I know, I know, he’s a chump who picks on innocent churches and should be hung by his toes for committing such acts of defilement. The thing is this: I don’t know him or his situation from a hole in the wall, but I do know there were times in my life when I thought nobody heard my prayers. There was a time when I thought the only things listening to me were cobwebs and doorknobs. But lo and behold, I can’t help shaking the feeling that I have someone looking over my shoulder.

I don’t know what possesses people to do things like this. I’m not sure what the courts are going to do with this guy and I don’t think this is the last time we’ll see something like this happen. In this day and age anything is possible when it comes down to it.

Like I said earlier, for those of us still fighting, for those of us who continue to do what’s right but get no recognition — give’em hell anyway.

Gabe Faraci [email protected]