By Jimmie Gladney
I salute the President and Publisher of The New Citizens Press, Rina N. Risper, for her eleven years of progressive action and her community involvement in the Lansing area. I am a subscriber of the newspaper. In the January 15, 2012 – January 28, 2012 issue, I enjoyed reading the article by Lemar Brown. He shared many good ideas on how to help stop the violence that is tarnishing the town. One statement he made was “There Are No Winners”. I agree. The victim goes to an early grave and the suspect generally goes to prison. The families and the children of the two are left behind to face the hardships.
When I was around twelve, my father died from gun violence. From life experiences, I have observed that anger and/or revenge can be a deadly weapon. Anger is defined as the feeling that one has toward another or a strong dislike or wish to harm. Revenge is defined as a harm done in return for a wrong or returning evil.
Every human has characteristics that show anger at one time or another. At the point that you feel harmful anger against someone, it is best to quickly vent it, cool off and move on. Taking the high road is not always easy but it is the best course of action.
If the person chooses to hold onto the anger, then revenge likely will follow and possibly encourage the person to get even with or do harm to his enemy or vengeful thoughts allowed will harbor in the person’s heart. At some point later on in life this revenge could be fatal to himself or his enemy.
There is a doctor by the name of Dr. Ben Carson. He was born in Detroit MI. He became the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at John Hopkins hospital at age 33. His beginning was a bad situation that turned out good.
He developed a violent and uncontrollable temper and was known to attack other children at the slightest provocation. The poverty he lived in and the difficult times he experienced in school seemed to exacerbate the anger and rage. His mother started requiring the boys to read two books a week.
As Ben started craving for knowledge his grades begin to improve. Despite his academic success, he still had a raging temper that translated into violent behavior. One time he tried to hit his mother with a hammer because she disagreed with his choice of clothing. In a final incident, Ben nearly stabbed to death a friend after arguing over a choice of radio stations. The only thing that prevented a tragic occurrence was the knife blade broke on the friend’s belt buckle. Not knowing the extent of his friend’s injury, Ben ran home and locked himself in the bathroom with a Bible. Terrified by his own actions, he started praying and asking God to help him find a way to deal with his temper. He found salvation in the book of Proverbs in a passage that said “Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city”.
Today he is Dr. Ben Carson. No matter who you are, do not ever give up on your dreams or the possibility of greatness.
Jimmy Gladney is an evangelist and poet. He lives in Detroit, MI. You can download his compact disc “A Crime” on CDbaby.com. G BILLION is the artist
This was printed in the February 12, 2012 – February 25, 2012 Edition
