We have a man who was in our Church who was a Deputy Sheriff. I may have discussed this elsewhere, so I'll keep it to the Reader's Digest version.
He obviously has anger issues, and was the jailer on duty when an inmate, who was incredibly quarrelsome and a genuine troublemaker, did his best to provoke (let's call him Jim) by threatening to kill Jim's family when he got out of jail. He even named the street Jim lives on, indicating he knows exactly where Jim lives.
Jim lost his temper and punched the guy in the head. Absolutely no excuse, no mistaking he hit the guy, it was on video. No provocation justifies that.
I attended the trial, and testified on his behalf. He had been very active in my church, I knew he had anger issues, and was working with him on that. I knew that Jim would probably lose his TCOLE license, and never be in law enforcement again, and was prepared for that. The trial was during the Ferguson fury, and the judge - improperly in my opinion - not only ordered that Jim lose his TCOLE license, but that he be confined to county jail for one year, no possibility of 'good behavior'. The judge stated that he felt it was necessary "to send a message". It was quite a media event with Quannel X from Houston attending the trial, also. (believe it or not, Quannel and I are actually friends) That's not what the judicial system is all about, but let's leave that alone.
Appeals ran out, and Jim was arrested and taken to jail just before Thanksgiving. About 3 months ago, Jim had lost his temper in our Church on a work day, and caused quite a little tempest within our membership. I spent a couple weeks managing that, getting everybody calmed down, and meeting with Jim, but Jim was bitter at me for 'not doing more'. I don't know what "more" I could have done. You would not believe the things I, and our Church, have done to help him and his family.
From prison, I received - about a week and a half ago - a letter from Jim apologizing for all the problems he caused, his anger, his accusations against me, etc. It was a great relief, because I have been a friend to Jim through all this.
I called the Sheriff (another county, because they wouldn't put him in the same jail he used to work) to ask if I could come visit Jim. There was no visitation, but since I'm a police chaplain, that opened the door.
I went and had a really good visit with Jim, and I left greatly relieved that we were friends again, and talked through the "old issues".
Today, I got another letter from Jim, filled with anger, accusing me of abandoning him, not doing enough for him, allowing "certain people" to run my Church (it's not MY church, and these "certain people" are ones that Jim blew up against anc caused the big scene) and telling me I coudln't visit him anymore.
It is such a gut kick, and I truly feel stabbed in the back. I've been sitting here for the last couple hours just thinking how to even respond. His family - wife and three kids - still attend here, and for a while, you could tell they bought into his narrative that I, somehow, didn't do enough for him. The last couple weeks, the family seems to be suddenly "OK", attending events, and treating me like they did before all this happened.
Then this letter. I realize it could be that Jim had a bad day, or week, and is in a dark place. I'm preaching on the Joy of Christmas in the morning, and I can't get this letter out of my head.
I appreciate your prayers.
He obviously has anger issues, and was the jailer on duty when an inmate, who was incredibly quarrelsome and a genuine troublemaker, did his best to provoke (let's call him Jim) by threatening to kill Jim's family when he got out of jail. He even named the street Jim lives on, indicating he knows exactly where Jim lives.
Jim lost his temper and punched the guy in the head. Absolutely no excuse, no mistaking he hit the guy, it was on video. No provocation justifies that.
I attended the trial, and testified on his behalf. He had been very active in my church, I knew he had anger issues, and was working with him on that. I knew that Jim would probably lose his TCOLE license, and never be in law enforcement again, and was prepared for that. The trial was during the Ferguson fury, and the judge - improperly in my opinion - not only ordered that Jim lose his TCOLE license, but that he be confined to county jail for one year, no possibility of 'good behavior'. The judge stated that he felt it was necessary "to send a message". It was quite a media event with Quannel X from Houston attending the trial, also. (believe it or not, Quannel and I are actually friends) That's not what the judicial system is all about, but let's leave that alone.
Appeals ran out, and Jim was arrested and taken to jail just before Thanksgiving. About 3 months ago, Jim had lost his temper in our Church on a work day, and caused quite a little tempest within our membership. I spent a couple weeks managing that, getting everybody calmed down, and meeting with Jim, but Jim was bitter at me for 'not doing more'. I don't know what "more" I could have done. You would not believe the things I, and our Church, have done to help him and his family.
From prison, I received - about a week and a half ago - a letter from Jim apologizing for all the problems he caused, his anger, his accusations against me, etc. It was a great relief, because I have been a friend to Jim through all this.
I called the Sheriff (another county, because they wouldn't put him in the same jail he used to work) to ask if I could come visit Jim. There was no visitation, but since I'm a police chaplain, that opened the door.
I went and had a really good visit with Jim, and I left greatly relieved that we were friends again, and talked through the "old issues".
Today, I got another letter from Jim, filled with anger, accusing me of abandoning him, not doing enough for him, allowing "certain people" to run my Church (it's not MY church, and these "certain people" are ones that Jim blew up against anc caused the big scene) and telling me I coudln't visit him anymore.
It is such a gut kick, and I truly feel stabbed in the back. I've been sitting here for the last couple hours just thinking how to even respond. His family - wife and three kids - still attend here, and for a while, you could tell they bought into his narrative that I, somehow, didn't do enough for him. The last couple weeks, the family seems to be suddenly "OK", attending events, and treating me like they did before all this happened.
Then this letter. I realize it could be that Jim had a bad day, or week, and is in a dark place. I'm preaching on the Joy of Christmas in the morning, and I can't get this letter out of my head.
I appreciate your prayers.
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