JONATHAN WE HARDLY KNEW YOU

“As a dog returneth to his vomit, [so] a fool returneth to his folly.” (Proverbs 26:11)

The early morning driving rain and high winds made it a difficult start for the day. Thursday is trash day for our street, so it meant throwing on some clothes and getting one foot soaking wet as I accidentally stepped into a puddle in the driveway. After a shower and getting dressed, I sat down at the table to a bowl of Kellogg’s Honey Smacks and a mug of coffee. The front page story in the MetroWest Daily News intrigued me: “COPS: CAR HITS CRUISER, DRIVER HIDES”.

The story is found at:

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x2072229753/Man-hits-police-cruiser-arrested-after-chase-in-Framingham-and-Natick

“What kind of an idiot did that?” I wondered and began reading the story about the bizarre actions of 21-year-old Jonathan Arizandieta. Suddenly, there was a lump in my throat and a pain in my soul. I knew him.

Our small church bought the former United Auto Workers union hall located at 32 South Street just outside the heart of downtown Framingham in 1994. Sometime in 1995, a cute little hispanic boy began wandering into church during the services. He had a big, infectious smile. I remember asking his name and how old he was. He was “Jonathan” and he was 7. I don’t think Jonathan often (or ever) came to Sunday School, but he was at church services fairly regularly. At some point, we met his mother. As I recall, she didn’t speak much English. We did learn he had a much older brother. Jonathan lived in the neighborhood and the church that played lively modern worship music was cool to him. Bill Lincoln, the 50ish tall, light complected mechanic who ushered most of the time along with our other usher and Deacon Dave Connell were favorites of Jonathan. He loved to talk and fool with those guys. In that era, we used to hold Vacation Bible Schools in the summer for the kids in the neighborhood. Unlike most churches, we held them in the evening, one night a week for around 6 weeks. In the early days, Jonathan attended a number of those “Kids Klub” events.

Time passed, and for a few years, we DIDN’T see much of Jonathan. One Sunday afternoon when he was around 11, I came to the church property and found Jonathan and a buddy, and some rocks and a broken window. They did not expect me to pull up right after the window had been broken. I’d caught them red handed, as it were. I remember giving them both, especially Jonathan, a strong “talking to” about it. Maybe we should have made Jonathan or his family pay for the window but I knew they were poor, and it was a stupid thing he’d done, and the bottom line is the church paid for the window.

When Jonathan became a teenager, he started to get that tough “up to no good” look that you hate to see. In those days, Bill Lincoln worked at a repair shop in Framingham’s Saxonville section. He’d see Jonathan and some of his crew hanging around. I remember Bill saying, “He’s not a bad kid, but he wants to impress those others. He’ll do ANYTHING to impress them that he’s not a sissy, and that’s going to get him into a lot of trouble.” And, it did. There did start to be various run-ins with the law.

Around that time, Jonathan and his crew also decided they wanted to show up at our church parking lot a few times a week with a bat and a tennis ball, attempting to play their own version of sandlot (well, “parking lot”) ball. I wasn’t crazy about it. But the way those kids looked at me, you KNEW if you kicked them out, you’d show up to find 10 windows broken...the building covered with graffiti, or both. I think my macho father would have known how to handle these kids, but I wasn’t sure. Bill Lincoln also noted that if you could get Jonathan ALONE you could have a reasonable conversation with him. He’d respect you and speak decently to you. But if he was with his pals, FORGET IT. Somewhere around that time, we even had Jonathan and his friends join a few guys from the church to watch the Super Bowl. But it was too little too late.

Around 3 years ago, the parking lot ball games stopped abruptly. In a way, I was very relieved. In another way, I knew it meant things were not good with Jonathan. A few stories showed up in the paper with Jonathan being arrested for this thing or that. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen or heard anything of Jonathan Arizandieta- until this morning.

Is there any way we could REALLY have made an impact with Jonathan? Did we make ANY impact at all? Is the culture and environment just too controlling for kids like Jonathan? It’s Christmastime, but this morning it’s hard to keep from crying.