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| Grace |
The boy stood with back arched, head cocked back and hands
clenched defiantly. "Go ahead, give it to me."
The principal looked down at the young rebel. "How many times
have you been here?"
The child sneered rebelliously, "Apparently not enough."
The principal gave the boy a strange look. "And you have been
punished each time have you not?"
"Yeah, I been punished, if that's what you want to call it." He
threw out his small chest, "Go ahead I can take whatever you dish
out. I always have."
"And no thought of your punishment enters your head the next time
you decide to break the rules does it?"
"Nope, I do whatever I want to do. Ain't nothin' you people gonna
do to stop me either."
The principal looked over at the teacher who stood nearby. "What
did he do this time?"
"Fighting. He took little Tommy and shoved his face into the
sandbox."
The principal turned to look at the boy, "Why? What did little
Tommy do to you?"
"Nothin, I didn't like the way he was lookin' at me, just like I
don't like the way your lookin' at me! And if I thought I could
do it, I'd shove your face into something."
The teacher stiffened and started to rise but a quick look from
the principal stopped him. He contemplated the child for a moment
and then quietly said, "Today my young student, is the day you
learn about grace."
"Grace? Isn't that what you old people do before you sit down to
eat? I don't need none of your stinkin' grace."
"Oh but you do." The principal studied the young mans face and
whispered. "Oh yes, you truly do..." The boy continued to glare
as the principal continued, "Grace, in its short definition is
unmerited favor. You can not earn it, it is a gift and is always
freely given. It means that you will not be getting what you so
richly deserve."
The boy looked puzzled. "Your not gonna whup me? You just gonna
let me walk?"
The principal looked down at the unyielding child. "Yes, I am
going to let you walk."
The boy studied the face of the principal, "No punishment at all?
Even though I socked Tommy and shoved his face into the sandbox?"
"Oh, there has to be punishment. What you did was wrong and there
are always consequences to our actions. There will be punishment.
Grace is not an excuse for doing wrong."
"I knew it," Sneered the boy as he held out his hands. "Lets get
on with it."
The principal nodded toward the teacher. "Bring me the belt." The
teacher presented the belt to the principal. He carefully folded
it in two and then handed it back to the teacher. He looked at
the child and said. "I want you to count the blows."
He slid out from behind his desk and walked over to stand
directly in front of the young man. He gently reached out and
folded the child's outstretched, expectant hands together and
then turned to face the teacher with his own hands outstretched.
One quiet word came forth from his mouth. "Begin." The belt
whipped down on the outstretched hands of the principal.
Crack! The young man jumped ten feet in the air. Shock registered
across his face, "One" he whispered. Crack! "Two." His voice
raised an octave. Crack! "Three..." He couldn't believe this.
Crack! "Four." Big tears welled up in the eyes of the rebel. "OK
stop! That's enough. Stop!" Crack! Came the belt down on the
callused hands of the principal.
Crack! The child flinched with each blow, tears beginning to
stream down his face. Crack! Crack! "No please", the former rebel
begged, "Stop, I did it, I'm the one who deserves it. Stop!
Please. Stop..." Still the blows came, Crack! Crack! One after
another.
Finally it was over.
The principal stood with sweat glistening across his forehead and
beads trickling down his face. Slowly he knelt down. He studied
the young man for a second and then his swollen hands reached out
to cradle the face of the weeping child.
"Grace..."
-- Unknown |
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