Hi guys....I came across a story "Turning Up Your Light":-) it sure did turn on my mind's light.Read on to see what it does to yours...:-);-)
More than three decades ago,I was a sophomore at a large high school in southern california.The student body of 3200 was a melting pot of ethnic difference.The environment was tough.Knives,pipes,chains,brass knuckles and an occasional zip gun were commonplace.Fights and gang activity were weekly events.
After a football game in the fall of 1959,left the bleachers with my girlfriend.As we walked down the crowded sidewalk,someone kicked me from behind.Turning around , discovered the local gang,armed with brass knuckles.The first blow of the unprovoked attack immediately broke my nose,one of several bones to be broken in the ponding.Fists came from every direction as the 15 gang members surrounded me.More injures.A brain concussion.Internal bleeding.Eventually,I had to have surgery.My doctor told me that if had been hit in the head one more time, probably would have died.Fortunately,they did not harm my girlfriend.
After I recovered medically,some friends approached me and said,"Let's go get those guys!"That was the way problems were "resolved". After being attacked,evening the score became a priority.A art of me said,"Yes!"The sweet taste of revenge was clearly an option.
But another part of me paused and said no.Revenge did not work.Clearly,history had demonstrated time and again that reprisal only accelerates and intensifies conflict.We needed to do something differently to break the counterproductive chain of events.
Working with various ethnics groups,we put together what we called a "Brotherhood Committee"to work on enhancing racial relationship.i was amazed to learn how much interest fellow students had in building a brighter future.Not all bought in to doing things differently.While small numbers of students,faculty and parents actively resisted these cross-cultural exchanges,more and more individuals joined in on the effort to make a positive difference.
Two years later,I ran for students body president.Even though ran against two friends,one a football hero and the other a popular "big man on campus," a significant majority of the 3,200 students joined me in the process of doing things differently.i will not claim that the raical problems were fully resolved.We did,however,make significant progress on bolding bridges between cultures,learning how to talk with and relate to different ethnic groups,resolving differences without resorting to violence and learning how to build trust in the most difficult of circumstances.it's amazing what happens when people are on speaking terms with one another!
Being attacked by the gang those many years ago was clearly one of my toughest life moments.What learned,however,about responding with love rather than returning hate has been a powerful force in my life.Turning up our light in the presence of those whose lights is dim becomes the difference that makes the difference.
hi,
