It is human nature to...
Illustration
It is human nature to fight back. We do not like to be forced to take anything off anyone. So we seek revenge; we try to pay back evil. All the time we are doing so, without even realizing it, we are bringing ourselves down to the level of the one who has hurt us. Conversely, by treating evil with good, we rise in stature and character. A family has a son who is a police officer. One night while on duty the radio of his squad car informed him that police in a nearby town were pursuing a car that refused to stop for their siren or flashers. He was further informed that the fleeing car was heading toward his town. So he went out to the highway leading into town and blocked the highway with his police car. Then, realizing that his cruiser might be smashed into, he got out of the car and stood beside the road. Soon the speeding car came down the highway, pursued by two police cruisers with their sirens and flashing lights. When the fleeing car came to the roadblock, it did not crash into the police cruiser. Instead, the driver elected to drive around the blockade, steering his car onto the grassy berm. Because it was night, he did not see the officer standing by the roadside. As a result, he struck the police officer, hurling him some distance and causing injuries severe enough that the policeman was in the hospital several weeks and then was confined to his bed at home for several more weeks. One would expect the parents of the injured policeman to be bitter and seeking vengeance against the driver of the fleeing car. Instead they felt sorry for the driver who turned out to be only sixteen years of age. He had borrowed his parents' car without their permission and was driving a little too fast when the policemen spotted him and gave chase. Seeing the flashing police lights behind him, the boy panicked and thought he could escape by speeding away. Striking the officer who stood beside the road brought him much remorse. The parents of the injured policeman thought the boy had suffered enough and had learned his lesson; they did not press charges. They did not return evil for evil. -- Lentz
