A Petty Prank

In the past two weeks we've had a couple of unintentionally damaging pranks pulled at school. Pranks done to the right people with a clear motive and creative forethought can be hilarious. Unfortuneately, recently they have carried a dark undertone that hovers about campus like a storm cloud.

One of these silly jobs was spawned, I'm sure, of a spontaneous nature. A student replaced the campus Indonesian flag with the stars and stripes. When the campus guards, all of whom are Indonesian, saw the flag, they were furious and ordered the student to remove it at once. The student complied, but the deed had been done.

Another "good natured" prankster thought he would have a little fun by kidnapping a jar of American candy from the library. This wouldn't be such a bad deal except the planning had been short-sighted and no ransom note left for the librarian to find in the stead of the jar. The second problem was that the librarian isn't the stereotypically prankish type. So, the call to arms was raised immediately and feelings were hurt, causing the would-be jokesters to go into hiding for fear of reprisal. Over a week went by with no clear word from the kidnappers, leaving the injured parties to believe that the candy was stolen rather than briefly taken for a joyride. It didn't end well, even after the pranksters eventually were compelled to come forward; too much time had passed and too much speculation spread during the interval of what would have been an appropriate amount of time to hold the candy jar hostage.

A wig from the prop room disappeared. A DVD player from the music room went with it. A pair of safety glasses from the states vanished. A few DVDs walked off. And somewhere, all my escaped socks from my college days are having a frat party in a field with a bonfire. Those little buggers were always trying to run-out during the spin cycle.

Please pray that our campus will take on an air of openness and honesty. Petty theft and silly-hearted pranks can quickly turn hearts to distrust one another. All three, two causes and an effect, are undesireable. God help our hearts and relationships.