What does it mean to live as one nation under God? To me it means to live with laws that create justice for all. Despite the politics of including God in decision making, God’s values of love inspire and direct good laws and actions. If you look at successes in justice, you will find decisions formed from thoughtful, kind-hearted and fair action and law. When something is wrong in our system, God’s grace works to help us be an instrument of his peace. Recently I was a witness to this grace.

There was a troubled young 11-year-old Spanish-speaking boy, walking on the streets of Liberty, frustrated, angry and scared, with tears in his eyes. An English-speaking policeman approached him and asked what was wrong. The boy tried to leave. The policeman blocked him. At this point, it was clear that a translator was needed to avoid an ugly ending. While normally a Spanish-speaking officer works that shift, on this occasion there was no designated translator.

Another policeman was called. The boy’s already unstable state now became worse. Eventually, three of his family members came upon the scene, also Spanish speaking, with very little English ability. No questions could be answered. The boy tried to leave countless times, and each time was a potential situation for justifiable use of force by of the police to detain him. However, thankfully the police had compassion and restraint.

As a bystander, I phoned a friend who I knew could act as a translator. When I explained the situation, she immediately came to the scene. At this point, 45 minutes had passed, and the situation was intensifying—still not much progress, working toward an ugly conclusion.

Finally, the boy’s story emerged. He had just moved here one month ago from Puerto Rico to live with his mother and had enrolled in the local sixth grade only two days before. He also was currently on two types of medication and was prone to violence when he did not take his meds. That evening his mother had tried to get him to take his medication. She also had expressed her disapproval for something wrong he did at home.

In the past in Puerto Rico, the boy had been told rather than choose aggressive behavior he could go walking and release the energy that way. Here, in America, the police were concerned with his safety and did not allow this method of cooling down without a parent’s supervision at night on the streets of Liberty.

Ultimately, an ambulance was called. After much communication with the diligent help of the translator, all four family members went into the ambulance so the child could be checked and to make sure his meds were good. This ending was no easy task. There were countless times this situation could have turned volatile. There were high emotions, crying and yelling, but thanks to the translator’s efforts and the police allowing the translator to convince the family to do the right thing, the family responded to the police wishes in a peaceable way.

Liberty has important business at hand to hire Spanish translators to be on call for such occasions.

Ten years ago, I became an English-as-a-second-language instructor. I see how we as Americans can help bridge this gap of communication. The old adage, “Where there’s a will there’s a way,” is true, and we suffer as a nation, if we choose to remain blind to the needs at hand.

We are each other’s keepers, regardless of any differences in age, religion, ethnic origin, or sexual orientation. Creating laws to achieve justice is the goal and measure of our continued successes in America. God’s love is what makes our country great. We shouldn’t be slow to recognize that fact.

[Deborah Palmarini is a resident of Liberty, NY.]