Imagine you’re a cop, a cop on the beat. Think about it. Your job, day-in and day-out, is to confront people. You confront strangers about the mistakes they make. Your job is to tell people that they’re screwing up.

It’s not a natural act. Confronting complete strangers is hard. It may lead to conflict, and worse, violence. So you’re always on alert, always ready for a potential attack. Then it seeps into your personal life. You’re at the store or the gas station, and see crime. You profile and evaluate everyone who crosses your path.  You’re on alert, 24/7.

Eventually, you realize that you and your family are surrounded by a tide of evil. You witness the worst in people every day on patrol, and there’s always another bad guy around the next corner. You invent axioms to filter who you confront.

“If I stop to pick up every piece of trash along my path, I will never get to where I’m going.”

But the tide never ends.

Your purpose on patrol becomes pointless. The constant confrontation becomes stressful. After so many years, you apply and pass the Detective’s Examination, hoping to stem your exposure to the tide, to at least have a direct impact on evil. Instead, your exposure worsens to the utmost horrifying underbelly of humanity.

Your home and your family become your sanctuary. If you can protect that, the safety and innocence of your kids, the integrity and fidelity of your marriage, then maybe, despite all the shit you’re up against every day, there is still hope.