Sign of Contradiction: Lessons at the Police Station

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Lessons at the Police Station

In the last week I had quite a few adventurous days. Believe it or not, but I’ve been in and out of the police station! Thankfully, not as a convict, but as a complainant.

The week before that, I got an SMS which threatened me saying, “……You will see your end soon.” This was the first time that I got an anonymous threat to my life, but somehow I wasn’t disturbed. Nevertheless as a procedure and a precautionary measure I had to register a complaint with the local Police and that’s how the frequent visit to the cops began. After a few days, they finally nabbed the guy who did this. He was someone I knew. When I first saw him at the Police Station, I felt nothing, may be because I suspected him from the very beginning. But when he was questioned by the cops in front of me, there was such a surge of emotions within me. The lame excuses that he was giving and the way he was justifying his act made me furious. I felt disgusted and I could feel anger and hatred building up within me. I had initially decided to forgive him and ignore the incident but every time he spoke, the reasons and excuses that he gave were so irrational and argumentative that it became more and more difficult for me to forgive him.

And that’s when I heard something. The verses of Bible which I read sometime back and about which I wrote in my last post came back to me. “Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who persecute you.” I felt a chill run down my spine and that moment I realized what exactly I was supposed to do. I had to forgive him, pray for him and bless him. It was easier said than done, but finally with His grace I was able to. At the end, before leaving the police station, I wished him all the best for his future.

This incident was such an eye opener! Such a small incident and it was so difficult for me to forgive him. Think about Jesus on the Cross. Stretched out on the cross, hanging by three nails between sky and Earth, he was surrounded by people who made fun of him, who mocked him, who ridiculed him, who accused him for things he never did, who chastised him, who crowned him with thorns, who made him go through the most painful torture, who crucified him, who were challenging him to come down from the Cross, who killed Him without knowing that it was for them that He was dying. Instead of hating them, cursing them, praying for their doom, He prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” (Luke23:34) Woah!! Truly Awesome. I was left speechless when I pictured it.