The Goliath's Fall

(... continued from The Goliath Came For Me.)

For some time indeterminable, we did not belong to or regularly attend any church. During this time, we contributed to The Daily Bread by way of tithe. They sent us inspirational booklets together with a newsletter on a regular basis. An old forgotten copy tarried upon the coffee table by the door. After my quiet moment with God, I lifted my eyes and the first thing I saw was the abandoned newsletter.

I flipped it open. Right smack in the middle of the newsletter was this little article.

A photocopy of the original cutting

I was gob-smacked! Every concern of mine, whether or not I was aware of them were answered. Was this mere serendipity or would you call this an answered prayer? I believe in the latter because past events in my life supported this theory

"Meekness is an expression of attitude rather than the avoidance of conflict. If we have set a goal and believe that our goal is reasonable and worthwhile, we will have to endure conflict with other people in our efforts to achieve it. When these conflict come, however, a meek person will be firm but not proud, determined but not arrogant."

My misgivings were laid to rest. I invoked the Grievance Procedure by submitting a form to The Union-Man. They took it up from there. Now that the decision was made, I was finally at peace. I knew that God stood steadfastly behind me. I remembered that hot humid night all those years ago when I woke up trembling during the unearthly hours, my ears ringing with the beautiful words resonating through my mind ..... ".... Everything that you want to do in life, go ahead and do it. Do Not Be Afraid...... (Read HERE for detail.) "

There were meetings and more meetings after the Grievance Procedure was invoked. I was pleasantly surprised by the moral support from my fellow colleagues. One of them (from downstairs) glared venomously at Mr Goliath each time she passed him on the way to the washroom. The rest just smirked in a satiated manner. I felt sorry for the poor man. Seeing him squirm uncomfortably under the scrutiny of the masses was not a pleasant sight for I did not wish to bring the man to his knees. It seemed cruel, almost unkind but the unpleasant motion had been triggered and it was on a collision path of its own.

This action had its consequences. At night when I lay in bed, I imagined the sharp pointed edge of a dagger in his hands plunging into my innards, blood gushing in the growing dusk. My anxiety was not without justification for nothing is known of the man. A man who harasses is often himself harassed. So anything is possible from such a man. I made sure never to be left alone with him. In the subsequent day to day work interaction with him, I made sure I knew where his hands were. For the record, the dagger never showed up.

The decision was prompt and to the point. The Union-Man demanded a public apology from Mr Goliath. In the absence of such an apology, a nationwide boycott by all members of the union in the same industry (which was pretty substantial, mind you) will drive the Goliath into a tight corner. Now a public apology is a humiliating punitive action for it meant that the accused is made to wait in an open space for the entire staff to assemble (and some of them took their time, in order to compound his humiliation) before he could, with humility, utter the apology to the satisfaction of the aggrieved. 

Feeling sorry for the defeated Goliath, I pleaded with the Union-Man to have the "sentence" reduced to a written apology. This did not sit well with the Union-Man who was bent on having a dramatic settlement.  I managed to talk them into a written apology which was subsequent handed to me by Mr Goliath in the presence of a witness. I kept this "document" to this day. (And I can show you to authenticate my story.)

About a week after the case was settled, I offered some cookies to fellow colleagues on the same floor. As I neared Mr Goliath, a little voice inside told me to serve him first. I obeyed this voice. Mr Goliath accepted my cookies. We've made our peace.

The biggest reward following this unpleasant experience was Asha's joy as she hugged me and whispered, "You are so brave to stand up for us. Thank you!"

If only she knew ... that I was anything but brave, ... that I'd rather avoid a conflict than to face it, ... that ..... -  All protests died on my lips when I saw the watery gratitude in her eyes. I wasn't much of a huggy-hug-hug person but I returned her hug. It felt warm and fuzzy.

What was that they said about choosing your battles? Choose battles small enough to win, big enough to matter? Nah .... I'll say the victorious battle is the one which came with God's blessing, Even a pusillanimous person can be a warrior if God wills it. Sometimes, we need to step boldly into the shadows believing that the hand which guide will be right there to take us beyond.

Easier said then done, right? I had to agree. Nobody wanted to be a hero because a hero gets beaten to a pulp. It is easier to bend with the wind than to fight it. No? For this reason, I understood Moses's qualm when God asked him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt to the Promised Land.

Note: A few months after the incident, in the face of persecuting looks from his fellow colleague and peers, Mr Goliath resigned. It was said that he became an insurance agent for a while but left soon after without a trace. 

It had been twenty years or thereabout since I last read the newsletter cutting in the picture above. (The cutting was left between the pages of an old forgotten bible.) Reading those words which settled my misgivings all those years ago brought me a new revelation to a recent conflict but that's a story for another time.