Carla had her only short work day today, the rest of the week will be full 8.5 hours.  Thanksgiving is off, but no days off before that, since Friday.  She will manage, she is stubborn and definitely like the rest of her family, strong willed, still I am a bit concerned for her.

2 Corinthians 2:6-8  Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many.

⁷ So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.

⁸ Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him.

It was a little after midnight when I noticed the car going up the hill.  There was obviously something wrong as he couldn’t maintain his lane of travel.

I pulled in behind him, watching to see if he would straighten out, or if he would continue driving in an erratic manner.  He turned east onto 12^th St, swinging overly wide and then corrected his path - - going into the oncoming lane.

I turned on my overhead lights, radioing the license number, my location and I had a possible 10-31, a drunk driver.  He immediately pulled the car over.

I got out of my car and approached with caution – I had noted there were two people in the backseat and someone in the front passenger seat.  A young man, in his early 20’s was behind the wheel of the car.

I could smell the odor of alcohol and I watched him fumble as he tried to locate his driver’s license.  After asking if he was okay and if he was on medicine and having him say no, I had him get out of the car, he was under the influence, but I had to give him some field sobriety tests to support my initial observations.

This was in the early 70’s; this was my first DUII where I initiated the stop.  I had ridden with officers who had made an arrest and I knew the procedures to determine sobriety, but I was still a bit nervous. 

In our department at least one other officer would cover the first officer to insure safety.  As the driver was getting out of the car, the Sergeant arrived to back me up.

I had the young man step to the sidewalk.  I asked him if he had been drinking.  He said he had, that he had just had a baby a month ago, but couldn’t celebrate the birth then because he was out of work.

However, he had started working and was celebrating with his first pay check.  His wife was in the front seat and his in-laws were in the back seat – all three looked concerned, sober and a bit apprehensive.  I could see the pleading in their eyes as I looked over at them.

It didn’t take but a couple of tests to confirm my suspicions, the young man wasn’t only under the influence of alcohol, he was in fact, drunk.

I looked at the Sergeant, he didn’t say anything.

I asked the man if the others had been drinking, he said no.

I asked him why he didn’t let one of them drive, he said ‘This is my car and I am the only one to drive it.’

I didn’t want to arrest him.  I asked him to let someone else drive him home, same response – only he could drive his car.  He wouldn’t let his wife or either in-law drive.

I told him that if he would allow one of them to drive I would let him go. 

He was adamant; he was drunk and deserved to go to jail.  He ‘wouldn’t want any one driving on the road as drunk as he was if his baby was out here.’

The Sergeant tried to talk to him, he remained steadfast that he was drunk but would not relinquish the car for someone else to drive so they could take him home.

I arrested him and placed him in the backseat of the patrol car.  I explained to his wife and in-laws what was happening, although they knew we had tried to let him go home, safely.

They were quite a distance from home and we would have to call a cab for them.  I told the driver that and, per policy I would be calling a wrecker to tow the car.  He said, ‘my wife can drive it home.’

In astonishment I asked, ‘why didn’t you let her drive you home when we wanted to let you go? – ‘it is my car,’ he replied.

I took him to jail.  He took the breathalyzer and while I can’t remember how high it was, at that time the Blood Alcohol level by state statute was .15% where the presumption of guilt required that the driver had to show he wasn’t under the influence, it was almost twice what it is today, and he was well over that.

Graveyard shift would pick the prisoners up for court, which began at 0800.  Day shift would stay up in the court room with them.

I picked him up and then stayed over and took him on up.  His name was called and he immediately said I am guilty, just after the charges were read.  The judge looked over at me and I just kinda shrugged.

The man’s wife was also in the courtroom and the judge looked over at her with a questioning look.  This was not an ordinary DUII.

The judge asked him if he wanted an attorney, could he afford one, etc in an attempt to get him one so he could talk with him.  The man said no, he was guilty and wouldn’t be ‘happy if anyone was on the road as drunk as he was if his baby was out there.’

He deserved to be arrested and put in jail.

The judge gave him the minimum sentence – don’t remember what it was at the time.  The day shift officer then took him back to the jail to be processed out.

I talked to the judge and relayed what happen earlier that morning, we both just shook our heads; we had given the young man several opportunities to preserve his license and freedom.

He felt so guilty he couldn’t accept our help.

I told the wife that I was sorry, she said she understood.

We do need people like this who will accept the consequences of their actions, who will hold themselves accountable.  It was just too bad that he didn’t use common sense to begin with and not drink and drive – and also that his guilt was so heavy he couldn’t accept mercy.

So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.

There are so many people out there that think they cannot be forgiven, either by us, or more importantly, by God; and they, like this young man, stand up and say I deserved to be punished and refuse to accept mercy.

Some are Christians that believe they have strayed so far that God will never take them back in. 

These people have such deep seated guilt that they lose all reason and really do need our compassion to help them understand they are not alone and that God still loves and cares for them.

Yes, they must ‘face the music,’ yes, sometimes they must take the consequences for their sins – and it IS good that they are holding themselves accountable – but they need to be picked up, they need to allow the Holy Spirit to mend their heart and make them whole. 

They are out there, we see them all the time – we may not realize it but they are there.  We need to be ready to have the Holy Spirit guide us and help them find God’s mercy and grace through Jesus Christ. 

No one is beyond redemption; they just need to understand that.  (Obviously we are not talking about the blaspheme of the Holy Spirit, but since that is not for us to figure out – then we don’t, but continue to witness, love and pray for them.)

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again