Article December 1, 2003 Issue

FOCUS on the TRUE PICTURE

By Norm Bleichman

SOME YEARS AGO I was working in an office building in Hollywood. Every afternoon we held a staff meeting in a large conference room at the far end of the floor. Adjourning from the meeting one day, we discovered that someone had come into the front part of our offices and taken various personal belongings. Among them was a leather case of mine containing my credit cards, checkbook, keys, and about $40 in cash. My co-workers and I quickly looked in other rooms, stairwells, even the dumpster outside, but found nothing.

I was jolted. I felt violated. Those of us who had missing items filed police reports. We were told that the neighborhood was home to drug users and that this kind of theft was unfortunately a common way to support "business." We would probably never see our valuables again. "Cancel your credit cards, get new checks, and change the locks at home," the police suggested.

Initially this prognosis caused me to fear that my identification would be used for nefarious purposes, and that my credit cards, bank account, and even my home were now vulnerable to thieves. However, I also had a resource to draw on that gave me a lot of peace. Having grown up attending Christian Science Sunday Schools, I had been learning all my life about an alternate view of my fellow man.