An Example Ignored

Canada's 100-meter sprinter Ben Johnson, arguably the fastest man in history, flew down the track in a world-record 9.79 seconds, only .13 of a second in front of 1984 quadruple gold medalist Carl Lewis of the U.S.

But photographs freezing that astounding moment of the 1988 Seoul Olympics reveal a dark side of Johnson. At the finish line, in angry celebration and to taunt Lewis, Johnson thrust an index finger to the sky. Johnson later told reporters, "I don't care about the perfect race. I don't care what the world record is. I just wanted to beat Carl.'

Johnson's pursuit of shaming a rival brought shame upon himself. The Olympics? crackdown on illegal drugs, requiring post-race urine tests of all winners, revealed Johnson had taken stanozolol, a forbidden anabolic steroid. Within three days he was stripped of his medal and record and banned from competitive athletics for two years. He left Seoul like a criminal, hiding his face behind a briefcase as he was mobbed by photographers. This is the man who once said, 'running is my life,? The man who sold out to the luxuries and fame it brought.

Born in Jamaica, Johnson came to Canada when his parents wanted a better education for their six children. His mother found work as a kitchen server in a Toronto hotel and sent for the children in 1976. The father also came to Toronto for a while but returned to Jamaica to a better job than Canada could offer.

A puny 14-year-old, Johnson entered the eighth grade and proved an average student. After high school he dropped out of an auto mechanics course. Nudged into athletics when his brother joined a track club, by 1980 Ben was 50 pounds heavier, six inches taller, and beginning to win medals in international competitions.

His mother took a second job at another hotel to help pay for Johnson's training, which included weight lifting six days a week. How did Johnson show his appreciation for that kind of sacrifice? According to a reporter for Chatelaine magazine, Johnson spent his free time 'listening to reggae [music], chasing girls, or tinkering with his car.? He never worked except for one job that lasted four days.

But wealth came with professional athletics. The year before the Seoul Olympics his income was estimated at about a million dollars. His appearance fee rose to a reported $30,000, and he signed multimillion-dollar contracts with sporting goods manufacturers.

His high living, however, was marred by allegations that his superbly muscled body got that way through the use of illegal steroids. Just days before the Olympic track events, an American trainer noticed Johnson's eyes 'so yellow with his liver working overtime processing steroids that I said he's either crazy or he's protected with an insurance policy.? After Johnson's disgrace at the "88 Olympics, his coach admitted Johnson had used steroids for nearly seven years.'

In October 1988, just months after the Olympics, Johnson was charged with pointing a starter's pistol from his car at another motorist on a busy highway. In 1989, in a scuffle with five men outside a Toronto night club, he suffered a broken tooth and swollen lip.

In 1990 his agent sued him for $425,000 for breach of contract. In 1991 he pleaded guilty to assault charges involving a former teammate. She told police that at a Toronto track and field center Johnson had pushed her and grabbed her throat. Reports said he was angry about comments she made to reporters about his Olympics drug test.

A seemingly small decision to enhance athletic performance with an illegal drug set Johnson up for a life out of control.

Jeanne Zornes, 'taking the High Road,? Pursuit, Vol. V, No. 1, 1996, pp. 13-15

Tooth For a Tooth

Russian Czar Peter the Great was fascinated with the study and practice of medicine. So when one of the Czar’s valets asked the monarch to pull his wife’s tooth, Peter grabbed his dental instruments and followed the valet to his apartment. There Peter pulled the woman’s tooth, ignoring her cries of protest.

Only several days later did Peter learn that the woman had never had a toothache at all. The painful extraction was her husband’s revenge for a domestic quarrel. Talk about “tooth for tooth”!

Today in the Word, January 13, 1997, p. 20

Forgiveness is Better

When we are wronged in some way, our natural inclination is to fight back, to get even. Needless to say, this reaction, though thoroughly human, is almost always in error. “Forgiveness,” said Epictetus, “is better than revenge, for forgiveness is the sign of a gentle nature, but revenge is the sign of a savage nature.”

A dramatic example is the experience of a Hungarian refugee—to protect his privacy we’ll call him Joseph Kudar. Kudar was a successful young lawyer in Hungary before the uprisings in that country in 1956. A strong believer in freedom for his country, he fought Soviet tanks in the streets of Budapest with his friends. When the uprising failed, he was forced to flee the country.

When Kudar arrived in the U.S. he had no money, no job, no friends. He was, however, well educated; he spoke and wrote several languages, including English. For several months he tried to get a job in a law office, but because of his lack of familiarity with American law, he received only polite refusals.

Finally, it occurred to him that with his knowledge of language he might be able to get a job with an import-export company. He selected one such company and wrote a letter to the owner.

Two weeks later he received an answer, but was hardly prepared for the vindictiveness of the man’s reply. Among other things, it said that even if they did need someone, they wouldn’t hire him because he couldn’t even write good English.

Crushed, Kudar’s hurt quickly turned to anger. What right did this rude, arrogant man have to tell him he couldn’t write the language! The man was obviously crude and uneducated—his letter was chock-full of grammatical errors!

Kudar sat down and, in the white heat of anger, wrote a scathing reply, calculated to rip the man to shreds. When he’d finished, however, as he was reading it over, his anger began to drain away. Then he remembered the biblical admonition, “A soft answer turneth away wrath.”

No, he wouldn’t mail the letter. Maybe the man was right. English was not his native tongue. Maybe he did need further study in it. Possibly this man had done him a favor by making him realize he did need to work harder on perfecting his English.

Kudar tore up the letter and wrote another. This time he apologized for the previous letter, explained his situation, and thanked the man for pointing out his need for further study.

Two days later he received a phone call inviting him to New York for an interview. A week later he went to work for them as a correspondent. Later, Joseph Kudar became vice president and executive officer of the company, destined to succeed the man he had hated and sought revenge against for a fleeting moment—and then resisted.

Bits & Pieces, March 31, 1994, pp. 12-15

Holding Your Anger

Many years ago during a Knicks-Bullets playoff game, one of the Bullets came up from behind the great Walt Frazier and punched him in the face. Strangely, the referee called a foul on Frazier. Frazier didn’t complain. His expression never changed. He simply called for the ball and put in seven straight shots to win the game, an amazing display of productive anger. If you want to get huffy about it, it was a great moral lesson as well.

U.S. News & World Report, June 14, 1993, p. 37

Quotes

• Chicago Cubs outfielder Andre Dawson paid a $1000 fine for disputing a strike called by umpire Joe West. On the memo line of his check Dawson wrote: “Donation for the blind.”
• You cannot get ahead while you are getting even. - Rep. Dick Armey

Source unknown

Resource

• Swindoll, Three Steps Forward, p. 76

Turn Around is Fair

In Brazil, several Indians who had been refused an audience with then President Ernesto Geisel because they were not wearing ties told the press they would “insist that any government official visiting an Indian Village must wear a feathered headdress and body paint.”

Reuters

The Worst Of Criminals

At one point early in Julius Caesar’s political career, feelings ran so high against him that he thought it best to leave Rome. He sailed for the Aegean island of Rhodes, but en route the ship was attacked by pirates and Caesar was captured. The pirates demanded a ransom of 12,000 gold pieces, and Caesar’s staff was sent away to arrange the payment. Caesar spent almost 40 days with his captors, jokingly telling the pirates on several occasions that he would someday capture and crucify them to a man. The kidnappers were greatly amused, but when the ransom was paid and Caesar was freed, the first thing he did was gather a fleet and pursue the pirates. They were captured and crucified…to a man!

Such was the Romans’ attitude toward crucifixion. It was to be reserved for the worst of criminals, a means of showing extreme contempt for the condemned. The suffering and humiliation of a Roman crucifixion were unequaled.

Today in the Word, November 23, 1992

Moby Dick

For hardy whalers, no ocean was too wide to cross in pursuit of their mighty prizes. In 1819, more than a dozen ships where launched from Nantucket, all headed for distant Pacific hunting grounds. One, the three-masted Essex, was to suffer a calamity so dramatic that its fate inspired a classic American novel—Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.

For months the ship survived the hazards of rounding Cape Horn and taking its prey. But one day a mammoth sperm whale rammed the Essex head-on. Then the leviathan passed under the vessel, turned, and attacked again. The whale hit, as first mate Owen Chase recalled, “with ten-fold fury and vengeance.” The crew abandoned ship, and from their whaleboats watched as the Essex slid into the sea.

Today in the Word, September 20, 1992

On Self Control

An artist had a dog that meant more to him than anything in the world. One day he broke his leg and the artist was panic-stricken. He ran to the telephone and called an acquaintance, a famous surgeon. “It’s an emergency,” he yelled, “a matter of life and death. Come quick!”

The startled surgeon dropped everything and rushed to the home of the artist, expecting the worst. When confronted with the dog, the surgeon, with masterful self-control, said not a word but proceeded to treat the dog with the same skill he would have used on a human being. Then he picked up his instruments and left.

Weeks passed, the dog got well, yet the artist never received a bill from the surgeon. The longer he waited the more guilty he felt. Surely he had lost the surgeon’s friendship forever. A few days later, therefore, he made his way to the surgeon’s office, intending to pay all that was asked. The surgeon would not accept his check. “You’re a painter, aren’t you?” he asked.

“Certainly.”

“Very well, if you will just put a coat of white paint on that cabinet over there, we will call the debt settled.”

The artist, a good-natured man, was amused by the doctor’s clever idea of revenge. He smiled and started to work at once. But when the job was completed, instead of a coat of white paint, the panels of the surgeon’s cabinet bore two of the artist’s greatest masterpieces, worth thousands of dollars apiece.

Bits & Pieces, August 22, 1991

Abraham Lincoln’s Solution

When he was an attorney, Abraham Lincoln was once approached by a man who passionately insisted on bringing a suit for $2.50against an impoverished debtor. Lincoln tried to discourage him, but the man was bent on revenge. When he saw that the man would not be put off, Lincoln agreed to take the case and asked for a legal fee of $10, which the plaintiff paid. Lincoln then gave half the money to the defendant, who willingly confessed to the debt and paid the $2.50! But even more amazing than Lincoln’ settlement was the fact that the irate plaintiff was satisfied with it.

Daily Walk, May 22, 1992

Do What Ever it Takes

A couple of years ago, a member of my church’s vocal team, and I were invited by a Christian leader named Yesu to go to southern India. There we would join a team of people from various parts of the U.S. We were told that God would use us to reach Muslims and Hindus and non-religious people for Christ. We all felt called by God to go, but none of us knew what to expect. When we arrived, Yesu met us and invited us to his home. Over the course of the next few days, he told us about his ministry. Yesu’s father, a dynamic leader and speaker, had started the mission in a Hindu-dominated area. One day a Hindu leader came to Yesu’s father and asked for prayer. Eager to pray with him, hoping he would lead him to Christ, he took him into a private room, knelt down with him, closed his eyes and began to pray. While he was praying, the Hindu man reached into his robe, pulled out a knife and stabbed him repeatedly. Yesu, hearing his father’s screams, ran to help him. He held him in his arms as blood poured out onto the floor of the hut. Three days later, his father died. On his deathbed he said to his son, “Please tell that man that he is forgiven. Care for your mother and carry on this ministry. Do whatever it takes to win people to Christ.”

Too Busy Not To Pray, Bill Hybels, IVP, p. 62

Asked for Leniency

Georges Clemenceau was twice the prime minister of France, and played a major role in the treaties that concluded WWI. At the Versailles conference, Clemenceau was on his way to a meeting with President Woodrow Wilson’s adviser when he was shot at by a young anarchist named Emile Cottin. As Clemenceaus’s car sped away Cottin fired at least six more shots, one of which struck Clemenceau near his heart.

Cottin was captured and the death penalty demanded, but Clemenceau asked for leniency, recommending eight years in prison “with intensive training in a shooting gallery.”

Today in the Word, February, 1991, p. 11

When I’m Six I’ll Fix Anthony

In Judith Viorst’s children’s book, I’ll Fix Anthony, the younger brother complains about the way his older brother Anthony treats him:

“My brother Anthony can read books now, but he won’t read any books to me. He plays checkers with Bruce from his school. But when I want to play he says, “Go away or I’ll clobber you.” I let him wear my Snoopy sweatshirt, but he never lets me borrow his sword. Mother says deep down in his heart Anthony loves me. Anthony says deep down in his heart he thinks stink. Mother says deep, deep down in his heart, where he doesn’t even know it, Anthony loves me. Anthony says deep, deep down in his heart he still thinks I stink. When I’m six I’ll fix Anthony…When I’m six I’ll float, but Anthony will sink to the bottom. I’ll dive off the board, but Anthony will change his mind. I’ll breathe in and out when I should, but Anthony will only go glug, glug…

When I’m six my teeth will fall out, and I’ll put them under the bed, and the tooth fairy will take them away and leave dimes. Anthony’s teeth won’t fall out. He’ll wiggle and wiggle them, but they won’t fall out. I might sell him one of my teeth, but I might not…Anthony is chasing me out of the playroom. He says I stink. He says he is going to clobber me. I have to run now, but I won’t have to run when I’m six.

When I’m six, I’ll fix Anthony.

Judith Viorst, I’ll Fix Anthony

50,000 Phone Calls

Tokyo police recently arrested a man who was upset over being denied entrance to graduate school 14 years ago. Since that day he has averaged about 10 phone calls a night—between the hours of 8 p.m. and 2 a.m.—to the former professor whom he blames for his lost opportunity. Those 14 years of annoying phone calls totaled up to over 50,000 calls.

Source unknown

You Must Have a Good Camera

On occasion I do free-lance photography for local newspapers and magazines, and I take great pride in my work. At a party one evening, I was introduced to an extremely pompous gentleman who writes a weekly piece for a publication that had just used one of my pictures. After telling me how he liked the “rather interesting” composition and tones I had used in my latest work, he said, “You must have a good camera.” I then mentioned that I had enjoyed his most recent article, and added, “You must have a good typewriter.”

Alexander F. Buiel II

Three Wishes

A despondent woman was walking along the beach when she saw a bottle on the sand. She picked it up and pulled out the cork. Whoosh! A big puff of smoke appeared. “You have released me from my prison,” the genie told her. “To show my thanks, I grant you three wishes. But take care, for with each wish, your mate will receive double of whatever you request.”

“Why?” the woman asked. “That bum left me for another woman.”

“That is how it is written,” replied the genie.

The woman shrugged and then asked for a million dollars. There was a flash of light, and a million dollars appeared at her feet. At the same instant, in a far-off place, her wayward husband looked down to see twice that amount at his feet.

“And your second wish?”

“Genie, I want the world’s most expensive diamond necklace.” Another flash of light, and the woman was holding the precious treasure. And, in that distant place, her husband was looking for a gem broker to buy his latest bonanza.

“Genie, is it really true that my husband has two million dollars and more jewels than I do, and that he gets double of whatever I wish for?”

The genie said it was indeed true. “Okay, genie, I’m ready for my last wish,” the woman said.

“Scare me half to death.”

Tom Nedwek, quoted by Alex Thien in Milwaukee Sentinel

It’s Not Just the Thought that Counts

When John Matar stepped outside his Chicago home on his birthday recently, he found two tons of manure piled eight feet high on his front lawn. The present, compliments of his brother in California, was the latest in an outlandish gift-giving war that erupted between the two when John sent his sibling one of those “insulting” birthday cards. He got 50 back.

Last year John received a pet rock that tipped the scale at 4,000 pounds. He responded with 10 tons of pebbles and a note telling his brother that the pet rock had babies.

Over the years, gifts between the two have also included a full-grown elephant and two busloads of choirboys. Which goes to show, it’s not just the thought that counts.

Campus Life, Jan., 1980, p. 22

Doctor and Artist

James Whistler, the Victorian artist, showed scant respect for the hierarchy of any profession. When his poodle fell ill with a throat infection, he sent immediately for the country’s leading ear, nose, and throat specialist, Sir Morell Mackenzie. The great man was not amused when he was shown his patient, but he conducted a thorough examination, wrote out a prescription, and left with his fee. The next day Whistler received a message asking him to call on Mackenzie without delay. Fearing some development in the poodle’s condition, Whistler hurried to the doctor’s house. “So good of you to come, Mr. Whistler,” said Mackenzie as his visitor was shown in. “I wanted to see you about having my front door painted.”

Source unknown

The Winner

As a hundred thousand fans watched, Richard Petty ended his 45-race losing streak and picked up stockcar racing’s biggest purse—$73,500. It all happened at the Daytona 500.

Petty’s win, however, was a complete surprise. Going into the last lap, he was running 30 seconds behind the two leaders. All at once the car in second place tried to pass the number one man on the final stretch. This caused the first car to drift inside and force the challenger onto the infield grass, and slightly out of control. What happened next was incredible. The offended driver pulled his car back onto the track, caught up with the leader, and forced him into the outside wall. Both vehicles came to a screeching halt. The two drivers jumped out and quickly got into an old-fashioned slugging match. In the meantime, third-place Petty cruised by for the win.

Source unknown

Pushed

Just before giving a lavish party at his estate, a tycoon had his swimming pool filled with poisonous snakes. He called the guests together and announced, 'to anyone brave enough to swim across this pool, I will give the choice of a thousand acres of my oil fields, 10,000 head of cattle, or my daughter's hand in marriage.?

No sooner were his words spoken than a young man plunged in, swam across the pool and climbed out-unscathed but breathless. "Congratulations!" the tycoon greeted him. 'do you want my oil fields"? "No!" gasped the guest. 'the 10,000 head of cattle"? "No!" the young man shouted. "Well, how about my daughter's"? "No!" "You must want something,? said the puzzled host.

"I just want to know the name of the guy who pushed me in!"

Hank Lee in Reader's Digest

30-year Grudge

Man Allegedly Patient About Revenge SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) " Police say a 30-year grudge boiled over when a former elementary school teacher littered the driveways of former co-workers and bosses with roofing nails and splattered paint on their garage doors. Thomas R. Haberbush, 72, pleaded guilty last Tuesday to one count each of stalking, criminal mischief and criminal tampering, all misdemeanors. Police said that three former school board members, a retired principal and a retired assistant principal at Caroline Street Elementary School were among the nine victims Haberbush targeted over the past two years. Their car tires were damaged by roofing nails that Haberbush threw in the driveways, police said. "It's very bizarre to carry around a grudge for nearly 30 years," said Saratoga Springs police investigator John Catone. "At least now there can be closure for all those people he terrorized." Police said Haberbush had been angered after receiving poor work reviews. Saratoga County assistant district attorney David Harper requested that Haberbush undergo a mental health evaluation as part of the plea agreement. He also will be barred from contacting the victims in the future. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,153007,00.html - accessed 4/11/05