Protecting Loved Ones

Is it ever okay to break the law? This is an intriguing question for me. In Peace Like A River, the Lands are Christians, and therefore I would assume they would believe it is wrong to break the law. When Davy gets taken to jail for committing murder, his family still supports him. They are even happy when he escapes from jail after his trial. People come and go wanting the Lands to tell them where Davy is, but the Lands never do. When Mr. Andreeson, a fed, comes to visit, he is very short with the family and tells them that if they do not want Davy to get hurt, they should let him know where he is. Jeremiah says he does not know and even if he did he would not tell.  Now Davy’s family could have given any information they had about Davy to the fed as they found it out, but they didn’t. This made me think about whether or not it is ever okay to break the law. I think that a lot of people living in the world right now see breaking laws as bad only if they get caught. As a Christian though, I know that God is always watching us. Even if we do not get caught by a human, God sees our sin and that should be enough to keep us from breaking the law if we really love God.

Jeremiah is a great example of someone who walks by faith, knowing that God will provide for his family.  He never really lies about Davy’s whereabouts, but he does not give the fed all of the information he has about where Davy is. I found this a little weird because up until now, Jeremiah did not really have any flaws in my eyes. I can understand though why he did what he did. I know that I love my family very much and want to protect them from anything or anyone who would harm them. Jeremiah feels the same way about Davy.  I understand why he would not tell anymore than he had to. He wanted to make sure that Davy was okay and he wanted to find him before the fed did, so that the Lands could be a family again. I do not condon breaking the law, but I do see why Jeremiah would want to keep Davys whereabouts a secret for now and for that reason I do not think less of him as a person.