Neglected Pan

Adult's Walk
The Grand Rapids Times
7-10-2009
by Marcel Gamble

I open up the loaf of bread, and the first thing I do is reach to the back of the loaf to grab the end piece.
After I get the end piece, I throw it directly in the trash.
I don’t stop to think about how it tastes. I just simply see that it is different than the rest, and I dispose of it.
The end piece that I constantly throw away is made by the same company and formulated from the same yeast as the rest of the loaf.
Why is the end piece of the loaf thrown out by millions of people?
Why is it treated differently from the rest of the bread within the loaf?
This week I am walking to answer this question.
The end piece is treated differently because it’s not shaped like the others.
It is flat and it doesn’t have the crust that so many people love.
However, that doesn’t change the fact that it comes in the same loaf as the other pieces. Why is it treated differently?
Unfortunately, some people are treated just like the end piece of bread – equality is forgotten and all fairness is ignored.
As an example, because of a corrupted law system, the end piece of bread is thrown out on regular bases.
There is an inner city resident that is the age of 18 who is caught by police officials growing 200 marijuana plants.
He is locked up only to undergo a trial that will take away the next seven years of his life.
A week later, there is a well-known individual who is loved by hundreds of people who is also caught growing 200 plants of marijuana.
This individual undergoes a trial that allows him to walk away with just the order to do 240 hours of community service, undergo drug testing, attend Narcotics anonymous, and submit to police searches.
In the above scenarios, who is being treated like the end piece of bread and who is being treated like the piece of bread with a crust?
I didn’t have to waste my time creating such an example because such injustice is occurring in real life.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to interview the individual that some are calling lucky this week.
However, I know that Grand Rapids sports writer David Mayo has been treated like the piece of bread that has a crust and not like the end piece.
Personally, I believe that if laws are set and consequences are made for laws that are broken, then everyone who breaks laws should be forced to endure the consequences.
It should matter if you are well known or a nobody.
It shouldn’t matter if you are a thug or a corporate professional.
It shouldn’t matter if you are black, white, rich, or poor.
If people commit the same crime, then they should do the same amount of time.
As a religious individual, I believe that God has reasoning for allowing writer David Mayo a second chance.
I also believe that I have been punished lightly for some things that I have done in the past as well, but that doesn’t change the fact that equality isn’t present anymore in the world of justice.
How am I able to trust law enforcement now that I know that I’m going to be treated like the end piece of bread while others that are well known are treated like pieces of bread with crust?
What will this do to upcoming generations when they realize that they are subjected to be thrown out like the end piece in the loaf?
My words to David Mayo are, “I’m not furious at you for getting a lighter sentence then what you should have gotten. I’m mad at the corrupted justice system for giving others more strenuous sentences for the same crime.
God has given you another chance, now it is your turn to do Him a favor. As a walking testimony, you should take the time out and explain to others that just because your consequences for your actions were light doesn’t meant that theirs will be if they make the same mistake. Explain to others that your light sentence doesn’t make your crime expectable.
My words for the Grand Rapids Justice system is stop treating people like they are end pieces of bread. If it’s the system’s choice to treat people like the end pieces in bread loaves, then it’s only right to treat every criminal the same.
I would love to see a correct law system whether than see a neglected pan.
Email me at marcelgamble@ sbcglobal.net and share with me your thoughts on this issue.
One for the week: “And the preist answered David, and said, there is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread.”_ 1Samuel 21:4