Brucey
You throw something in the face of this 73 year old and I will tell you what my reaction will be.
I have no access to your mind---I don't know you and I sure can't trust you. You are bigger than me, faster than me and have every advantage over me.
I don't know.
I will tell you that I am not going to wait until I get to the hospital for someone to tell me what he did.
Now, you can take that peace, love & understanding and when it comes to invading the space around my nose--you better bring all you got because I am not going to let you go for back-up.
Been there done that.
Blessings
I began my ministry working in the inner city of New Orleans. I worked the streets. In such work, you meet all sorts of people. Over the last 32 years, I've served seven other church fields, some of which have been just about as "interesting."
Early in that service I worked both in leading a church as well as other jobs. The early years were very "interesting." I have been shot at one time in my life by a bunch of fools who were doing a dope deal. I have been jumped exactly one time in my life by three guys who cornered me behind some dredging pipe in a ship yard. On one occasion I jumped three fellow, one of whom was "armed" with brick, as they were breaking into cars in the parking lot I was guarding. I of course was armed, with a baton.
The years of full-time pastoral ministry have not been boring. As a pastor serving in a local church I have been threatened with a beating one time outside of a drug store. I have had "troubled" people pull knives on me on two separate occasions, one time they moved on to 2x4's.
One day in 1988 I observed a man stomping a woman at a bank. I got him off her and he ran. A little over a mile later he went for a knife. I picked up a brick and he ran. A little over a 1/2 mile later, he went for a gun. I still had the brick. At that distance it would have hurt. Happily he stayed cool against the fence so I didn't need to use the brick. The police only saw a white man with a brick holding a man against a fence. So, they pointed their guns at me. Fine. Once they knew the score, they arrested the criminal.
In August 2009 I was on my way to a camp meeting service. A gentleman who had probably had a bad day was engaging in a little "aggressive driving" the upshot of which was that I had to stop my car to avoid an accident. He came out of his car and began to threaten me, etc. Now, he had me by at least let's say 30 years, and at least 20 pounds. He was certainly in better physical condition. Guess I should have pulled out a gun and shot him? Guess simply talking to him and calming him down and letting him get in his car and go on his way was not the right thing. After all, the sheriff's deputy who arrived in the next few moments didn't get to see a man laying in a pool of blood. Nothng to put in the newspapers. Gee!
On one church field policeman on one occasion decided I was a dope dealer and pulled me over, did the shotguns pointed at my head screaming at me routine. I thought they'd been playing army to much and told them so. The State Patrol officer who arrived momentarily looked things over and told them in a nice way that there was no problem and no cause for them to be acting like they were. Their problem... I had a COLT 1911 lying on the passenger seat of my car. It was .... unloaded. It was a birthday gift given to me by my identical-twin brother, a deputy sheriff in the county where my parents resided. A few years later I was pulled over for speeding. I'd gotten turned around in a rural area of New Hampshire and was as lost as could be. As I stood up out of the car, the officer pulled his pistol and started shouting, "Get back in the car. Get back in the car." I think he'd been watching to much T.V. I told him so, straight to his face. We chatted for maybe 10 minutes. He showed me on a map how to get back to Boston. Cool.
The most dangerous incidents and people I've had to deal with are the people who have threaten to "have my job" on at least three occasions. The number one most dangerous ones in the bunch have been the ones who ... turned the truth into a lie and used it as a weapon of mass destruction to assault against people and against myself. The fools w/ the guns and knives and 2x4's ... they happen. I never shot any of them. I did take the knives and other toys away from them. The folks who harbor an unreasoned resentment, who are devoted to control even to the destruction of themselves and others, these are in my experience the ones who cause the greatest damage.
I am a Christian. I am a follower of Jesus Christ. He's the one who told us to "turn the other cheek." He's the one who also told us to buy a weapon. I have found that Jesus is a tough act to follow. It takes more spine than I ever imagined to turn the cheek. The overwhelming majority of times that I've had to do that, it has not been because someone was using their fist. Their weapon was almost invariably their tongue. I've not yet had to go to a weapon. I have used my hands. It's nothing to be proud of. Only a fool would boast of or dwell upon such things. Very much wish those happily few incidents could have been worked out in a better way.
As to the space around someone's nose, I have no interest in it. I am a man, the exact same as you. I conduct myself as a responsible rational man, not a cartoon comic book or Hollywood cowboy or action hero. I try to be thoughtful, kind and consider to all people, even the pugnacious. If I choose to send or receive a text in a public place, I will do so. And, whoever finds that objectionable will just have to accept it. It is no different than wearing a baseball cap turned around backward or a tattoo proclaiming service in the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines. If someone doesn't like it, that is their problem.
Again, if an individual has a problem with my texting, wearing that backwards baseball cap, political t-shirt, tattoo, etc., they will just have to accept it. It is a public place. They are not in control. And, if they pull a gun to try to force their will, I deal with their high handed attitude and action in a manner that will resolve the matter in the most appropriate way possible. Does not mean I will "shoot first and let God sort them out." No. As in pass little incidents, I typically sort them out myself. God has better things to do.
Now, most likely they will get to walk away simply b/c that has always been the way I deal with folks who are out of control. I settle them down, and once they are calm and once again acting normally, once they have finished having their little tantrum and are no longer screaming and raving, they are much better off. Now, as with the knives and 2x4's, the folks who pull a weapon almost invariably get to have a chat with the police. And, charges are pressed against them. It is for them a learning experience. The one occasion where charges were not pressed, I kept the butcher knife. They weren't much without it. Later threw the knife in the trash. It wasn't worth keeping. The joker with the knife lived. Cool. It is never a bad thing when everyone leaves walking on their own two feet, even if that means someone has to do something more than just push their weight around.
