Old Dog V

Back to: FROM DISCERNMENT TO DISCIPLINE TO DESOLATION

RE: FROM DISCERNMENT TO DISCIPLINE TO DESOLATION

Bob Neumann

RE: From DISCERNMENT To DISCIPLINE To Desolation

Dear Stephen, Now i have read this post 3 times and each time i have sat and wondered. You mention me and “the big stick”. In the past i have had enough people say that just because i commented on something they were afraid to comment because i “intimidated” them. Says little about my people skills.

But as i kept rereading your post it reminded me a story i read years ago. One night during a pouring rain a man was traveling. As he came to a bridge he slowed down to cross and as he started onto the bridge he saw the tail lights of the car ahead of him suddenly vanish. He hit his breaks. The middle span had washed away. As he stared forward a car went around his and right off the bridge. The only thing he thought to do was to warn others that the bridge was out.

So he turned on his hazard blinkers. Went to his trunk and took out several flares. He lit them and set them on the road. Then he went and stood on the road in the pouring rain, a lit flare in each hand waving frantically at approaching cars.

The first car honked at him and nearly ran him down as it sped by and into the river. Then another and another. He said he felt panic when he could not get them to stop. He said that one of the cars was driven by a woman with kids in the car. In his account of that night he felt that the sight of a man in the pouring rain waving flares so frightened the woman she was in full acceleration as she went into the river.

Eventually a car stopped and then others. Eventually all traffic was stopped. State troopers told the man that he was a hero. He saved many lives. When they later dredged the river they found 9 cars and trucks had fallen. When the news people went to find the hero all they found was a man weeping because he believed he “killed” the woman and the children he saw drive by.

Like i said it was a story i read long ago and i never have forgotten it. For a long time i could not understand why the man blamed himself for anything. I could not understand how anyone driving would not stop when seeing flares and someone waving a warning. But i was young then and did not understand a lot of things. The ability to second guess oneself requires two things. First you had to have tried to do something…but failed. The second is a conscience that can be seared….a heart that can be broken. Even when you do everything possible, the results may not be successful. AND then you learn to live with it…

DESOLATION is a great term…it gives me vivid images of events i do not want to happen. But my wants mean little in the long run. Likewise when it comes to “authority”…i don’t want it. Never have, never will. On the other hand i understand “being under authority” and taking responsibility. Being accountable for what i say and do. People do stupid things and make excuses. No one wants to be blamed for their own errors and mistakes…so we make excuses…deny any accountability. I remember the comedian FLIP WILSON saying “THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT”…and everyone laughed. Not my fault….

Mistakes happen…you live and learn. You do better… that is what i was taught as a child. bob

Up Next: JUST MESSING WITH YOUR HEAD