{"id":6234,"date":"2016-05-22T07:43:08","date_gmt":"2016-05-22T11:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=6234"},"modified":"2016-05-22T07:45:21","modified_gmt":"2016-05-22T11:45:21","slug":"working-out-the-right-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=6234","title":{"rendered":"working out the right way"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"photo-1452801479283-b8c6a23854d9\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cVengeance is mine.\u201d It\u00a0has been written.<\/p>\n

The question is the meaning of \u201cmine.\u201d (Note: pronouns indeed make a difference.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be honest; we aren\u2019t all that good at allowing vengeance or revenge or any sense of justice be in the hands of someone else; we aren’t all that good at allowing at-first-unfair circumstances to simply play themselves out. My sense is such stems from three reasons. One, that means we would have to be patient, waiting for another judicial order to act on a timetable which they deem appropriate; two, justice in unfair\u00a0circumstances may be perceived to never come; and three, different people have different perceptions of what justice actually looks like. What\u2019s just to one may not be just to another. The specifics of appropriate restitution look different to different people.<\/p>\n

And so, we are tempted to take justice into our own hands.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the motive behind multiple movements. You know the ones\u2026 the \u201cI\u2019m-mad-as-hell-and-not-going-to-take-it-any-more\u201d ones\u2026 the ones that cheer when perceived opposition finally gets their due\u2026 the ones that declare any other outcome as bad, wrong, foolish, evil, you-name-it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, it\u2019s about time,\u201d we like to say\u2026 \u201cIt\u2019s about time this all worked out in the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes, it\u2019s true; we aren\u2019t very good at allowing justice to be any other than \u201cmine.\u201d (Pronouns make a difference.)<\/em><\/p>\n

A little over a year ago, my second son, who had become a legal, teenage driver, welcomed a summer day long anticipated. You see, at his high school there are a limited number of student parking spots. In fact, there are not enough spots for all who desire to drive (as opposed to a respected upperclassman being spotted on the dreaded school bus\u2026 egad\u2026).<\/em><\/p>\n

The existing process, therefore, in regard to parking pass distribution, is that on a designated morning, the week prior to the onset of the new year, student classes individually line up with their $100 checks in order to participate in a random drawing. Be sure to take note of the word \u201crandom.\u201d When\u00a0the morning drawing commences, each class member blindly draws their specified spot from a so-called hat.<\/p>\n

My eager teen, finally a junior, had long desired this day. \u201cFinally,\u201d he must have thought. And so on said morning, he was in line two hours earlier<\/em> than the start time\u2026 all for a random<\/em> drawing.<\/p>\n

Much to his glee, JT was one of the first students\u00a0in line. He paid his $100. Then he drew.<\/p>\n

JT drew the second farthest away spot<\/em> in the entire parking lot. Only one car would park farther away for the rest of the year.<\/p>\n

When JT arrived back home that morning, I could tell it was one of those teenage issues that we wouldn’t be immediately discussing. He was mad \u2014 livid, arguably. Here was this day he had longed for, planned, arrived at early, and his efforts were not rewarded in any way, shape or form\u2026 how unfair!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s it. When a circumstance is perceived to be unfair, we lose all patience. I remember many days this past year (especially those rainy, cold ones)<\/em> when JT could be heard grumbling about that stupid, unfair spot.<\/p>\n

It’s a year later, though, and now\u00a0JT is set to\u00a0be a senior. This year\u2019s graduating class has left the building, and all fun, memory-making festivities are in full swing. Last weekend, in fact, was the junior\/senior prom.<\/p>\n

Funny thing happened there, by the way… Amid all the joy and fancy dresses and dances, there are also all sorts of prizes and creative\u00a0give-aways. Young JT won one thing\u2026<\/p>\n

A free parking pass for his senior year. \u201cPick Your Spot,\u201d read the certificate.<\/p>\n

One\u00a0year later, it is his.<\/em><\/p>\n

Respectfully\u2026
\nAR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cVengeance is mine.\u201d It\u00a0has been written. The question is the meaning of \u201cmine.\u201d (Note: pronouns indeed make a difference.) Let\u2019s be honest; we aren\u2019t all that good at allowing vengeance or revenge or any sense of justice be in the hands of someone else; we aren’t all that good at allowing at-first-unfair circumstances to simply … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “working out the right way”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6234"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6245,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6234\/revisions\/6245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}