Power Under Control

Fred was an easy target. He was a bit goofy, a little effeminate, one of those guys that younger men find it easy to make fun of. Perry was a boisterous young guy that moved here from Louisiana. He was loud and a little bit mean. He found it easy to make fun of Fred. We all did to a certain extent, but Perry, for some reason, was particularly cruel. One day, they got to the point where Perry challenged Fred to a fight. Fred walked away. Years later, when I left that job, I found out that Fred was a 3rd degree black belt in Taekwando. It was something that he had a passion for, but he kept a secret from anyone at the office.

I remember, as a kid, hearing lessons about how Jesus didn't open his mouth when he was being accused. I would be taught lessons about how "He was a sheep, led to the slaughter". Even the pictures that you see of him portray him as a gaunt, weak looking man. But he had tremendous power. In the garden, he told Peter, "Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?". He let Peter, and us, know that he could have stopped it at any time.

Turning the other cheek was always something that I struggled with. I hate feeling weak. If I walked away, it was like I had accepted defeat. Later on though, I finally learned, that walking away is not necessarily weakness....it it simply power under control.