Then no violence will be necessary.

Doesn't that title catch your attention.  Violence...Necessary?  Isn't that the way our world works sometimes.  Someone does something to one person and that person determines violence is necessary to protect them, or honor those who were harmed or even to protect their own honor.  Often violence is done as a warning to others.  "Don't mess with me!"  Hmmm.

That phrase ("Then no violence will be necessary) was told to me by my friend.  He described a situation that had happened in his family where a 40+ year old man from his church had contacted his daughter in her mid twenties asking her to go on a date.  My friend and his daughter wasn't keen on the idea.  My friend had the man investigated and found some big concerns about the fellow.  So he went to his minister and in that conversation with his minister he told him that as long as the man didn't contact his daughter any more "then no violence will be necessary".  He told me that the minister was surprised and alerted by that phrase.  As he should be since I know my friend. 

I wonder is violence ever necessary?  Interesting question.  I used to think it would be ideal to be a peaceful man who could be extremely violent if it were necessary.  In my mind I imagined the necessity might be if my family were in danger and being threatened by criminals.  But more recently I have come to the conclusion that violence of that sort would require a man who has prepared both physically and mentally for violence.  My preparation has been in the realm of peace and calm.  Consequently, I have realized that my ability to reason with someone and talk to them and help them see the humanity represented is my best defense and that violence isn't necessary but rather a choice. 

Now, my friend who shared his experience with me is a man who is capable of violence but has most recently trained in peace and calm.  Currently he feels stronger in his ability to be successful in the realm of violence but with continued training I expect he will gain confidence in his capacity to be successful with peace and calm rather than violence and harm. 

Ghandi said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

I wish we were all in training for peace. 

The humble kind criminal with a conscience

Kind Criminal?

I had an interesting experience the other day.  I was talking to a man who had been in jail many times in the past.  In our discussion he identified himself as a "humble, kind criminal with a conscience".  That made me pause for a second.  A criminal humble?  A criminal kind?  A criminal with a conscience?  I was not accustomed to thinking of criminals in quite that way. 

So I laughed!  He laughed and then he said, "sounds crazy doesn't it?"  Maybe that is why he was seeing me. 

As I thought about it some more I think I realized what he was saying.  He was humble in that he didn't try doing more crime than he needed to do to get what little he needed.  He wasn't out to get rich, just get by.  That's kind of humble...maybe.  Kind of like a hunter who only hunts when he needs food and then only hunts for what he needs and not excess. 

He was kind because he didn't want to hurt anyone he told me.  He didn't steal purses from old ladies for example (his not mine) and didn't beat them up or throw them to the ground like some of his fellow criminals.  He did allow that maybe he did "harm people emotionally when they found out there money was gone" but other than that he cared about people and never had attacked anyone or caused bodily harm.  He was a pick pocket in his past and he felt that was morally superior to more thuggish criminals. 

He had a conscience that wouldn't allow him to do certain things that would be harmful as I mentioned above.  He even discouraged some of his comrades from doing those mean and abusive things he said.  He took a lot of ribbing for his ideas on that from other criminals he said.  "They said I was different." 
He would much rather hurt himself than someone else he said and had scars to show for it.

A criminal with principal?  I avoided his view of himself because my tack was that he had stopped doing criminal behaviors so he wasn't a criminal any more! 

Now we just need to find out what he is so he can have a new label.