Traveling the Rock Road

To this day, some 50 years later, it still makes no sense why this guy targeted me. I suppose the main reasons were that I was smaller than he was, he was a bully and I’m guessing he wanted to impress the girl in the car with him by thumping a kid smaller and younger than he. All I know is my friend and I were walking down the street when the car with four teenagers, probably around 18 years old, passed and shouted some derogatory words at us. My buddy and I stared but didn’t say anything until they stopped the car. This tall lanky, rather dirty sandy haired blond jumped out and started walking back our way. Coming face to face he accused me of giving him the middle finger salute, to which I hadn’t but he was bent on the fact of kicking the stuffing out of me. Now all my life it never made sense to me why anyone would want to fight just for the sake of proving how tough they are, particularly some grease ball four years older and a head taller than me! Life had not been easy for me in my young days, got picked on a lot for various reasons, but the main one was because I wouldn’t fight. Unfortunately that’s exactly what bully types look for, an easy prey on whom they can inflict harm without receiving any payback.

This meat-eater wasn’t about to walk away until he put another notch in his slingshot, thus came the haymaker he laid on my head. For whatever reason, for the first time in my life, I started swinging for all I had, mostly out of fear to tell the truth. Then something happened for the very first time, this guy let out a big grown from a punch I landed to his ribcage. He stopped and started breathing very hard; I felt the same way but sure wasn’t going to let him know. After a moment of composing himself he came at me again shouting, “Don’t use your feet!” I was kicking? With the adrenalin rush that was pumping through my body I didn’t know what I was doing; and when did it become part of the rules for an aggressor to tell you what you can and cannot do in a street fight?!! When round two began I went at him with more confidence than I ever had before. It didn’t help me not get hit any less, with his size the punch ratio was probably 3/1 in his favor. Yet I was determined I wasn’t going to give in unless he hurt me so bad I couldn’t fight anymore. For just a moment I was mesmerized by what happened next. Breathing harder still he turned and walked quickly back to the car shouting over his shoulder, “Don’t you ever let me catch you again.” My friend and I stood there watching them drive off then looked at each other and his words summed up how I felt. “Man, your face looks like it went through a meat grinder!” I felt what he was seeing, but it didn’t matter, I had never felt so good in my life! For the first time ever, I took a stand.

C.S. Lewis: “God knows our situation; He will not judge us as if we had no difficulties to overcome. What matters is the sincerity and perseverance of our will to overcome them.”

Often, I have thought of the early believers and followers of Jesus Christ; many when the hard times came folded and ran away. But others stood by the Lord and refused to budge from their faith in Him. His disciples could have run also, instead they stood firm where most were put to death. They would not waver in their convictions that Jesus was the Son of God.

James 5:11 “Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.”

To this day I still see fighting for no reason (self-defense excluded) worthless and only something that the weak use to prey on the weaker. As for my faith, well I may never be a Peter or a Paul, but I will stand my ground on the conviction that Jesus is Lord.

Romans 5:3-4 “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope”

As for the grease ball, we met for Round 3 about half an hour later in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant where we both were more determined than previously. And like before, he pummeled me more than I did him, that is until he stumbled, fell down and I jumped on him swinging until he gave up. Many people were out there watching, particularly one guy who had bullied me in the past. The aggressor quickly got back in the car and left. Then I hear the voice of this other guy.

“Hey Miller, good fight, way to stand your ground.” I felt half dead, beaten worse than I had ever been in my life, but hearing those words pumped energy and pride through every part of my body.

There’s a day coming, after my journey of “Traveling the Rock Road” that I hope to hear words similar to those again. This time it won’t be from an an old bully, it’ll be from the One who has loved always.

“Well done, good and faithful servant.”

See ya next time.