My wife, June, had attended a ward officer's meeting.
When I came to drive her home, she was accompanied by a sister we would take home on our way.
She lived in the nearby Woodlawn area, which was the territory of a gang called the Blackstone Rangers.
I parked at the curb outside this sister's apartment house and accompanied her into the lobby and up the stairs to her door.
June remained in the car on 61st Street.
She locked all of the doors, and I left the keys in the ignition in case she needed to drive away.
We had lived on the south side of Chicago for quite a few years and were accustomed to such precautions.
Back in the lobby, and before stepping out into the street, I looked carefully in each direction.
By the light of a nearby streetlight, I could see that the street was deserted except for three young men walking by.
I waited until they were out of sight and then walked quickly toward our car.
As I came to the driver's side and paused for June to unlock the door, I saw one of these young men running back toward me.
He had something in his right hand, and i knew what it would be.
There was no time to get into the car and drive away before he came within range.
Fortunately, as June leaned across to open the door, she glanced through the back window and saw this fellow coming around the end of the car with a gun in his hand.
Wisely, she did not unlock the door.
For the next two or three minutes, which seemed like an eternity, she was a horrified spectator to an event happening at her eye level, just outside the driver's window.
The young man pushed the gun against my stomach and said, "Give me your money."
I took the wallet out of my pocket and showed him it was empty.
I wasn't even wearing a watch I could offer him because my watchband had broken earlier that day.
I offered him some coins I had in my pocket, but he growled a rejection.
"Give me your care keys," he demanded.
"They are in the car," I told him.
"Tell her to open the car," he replied.
For a moment I considered the new possibilities that would present, and then refused.
He was furious.
He jabbed me in the stomach with his gun and said, "Do it, or I'll kill you."
Although this event happened twenty-two years ago, I remember it as clearly as if it were yesterday.
I read somewhere that nothing concentrates the mind as wonderfully as having someone stand in front of you with a deadly weapon and tell you he intends to kill you.
When I refused, the young robber repeated his demands, this time emphasizing them with an angrier tone and more motion with his gun.
I remember thinking that he probably would shoot me on purpose, but if he wasn't careful in the way he kept jabbing that gun into my stomach, he might shoot me by mistake.
His gun looked like a cheap one, and I was nervous about its firing mechanism.
"Give me your money."
"I don't have any."
"Give me your car keys."
"They're in the car."
"Tell her to open the car."
"I won't do it."
"I'll kill you if you don't."
"I won't do it."
Inside the car June couldn't hear the conversation, but she could see the action with the gun.
She agonized over what she should do.
Should she unlock the door?
Should she honk the horn?
Should she drive away?
Everything she considered seemed to have the possibility of making matters worse, so she just waited and prayed.
Then a peaceful feeling came over her.
She felt it would be all right.
Then for the first time, I saw the possibility of help.
From behind the robber, a city bus approached.
It stopped about twenty feet away.
A passenger stepped off and scurried away.
The driver looked directly at me, but I could see that he was not going to offer any assistance.
While this was happening behind the young robber, out of his view, he became nervous and distracted.
His gun wavered from my stomach until it was pointed slightly to my left.
My arm was already partly raised, and with a quick motion I could seize the gun and struggle with him without the likelihood of being shot.
I was taller and heavier than this young man, and at that time of my life was somewhat athletic.
I had no doubt that I could prevail in a quick wrestling match if I could get his gun out of the contest.
Just as I was about to make my move, I had a unique experience.
I did not see anything or hear anything, but I knew something.
I knew what would happen if I grabbed the gun.
We would struggle, and I would turn the gun into that young man's chest.
It would fire, and he would die.
I also understood that I must not have the blood of that young man on my conscience for the rest of my life.
I relaxed, and as the bus pulled away I followed an impulse to put my right hand on his shoulder and give him a lecture.
June and I had some teenage children at that time, and giving lectures came naturally.
"Look here," I said.
"This isn't right. What you're doing isn't right. The next car might be a policeman, and you could get killed or sent to jail for this."
With the gun back in my stomach, the young robber replied to my lecture by going through is demands for the third time.
But this time his voice was subdued.
When he offered the final threat to kill me, he didn't sound persuasive.
When I refused again, he hesitated for a moment and then stuck the gun in his pocket and ran away.
June unlocked the door, and we drove off, uttering a prayer of thanks.
We had experienced the kind of miraculous protection illustrated in the Bible stories I had read as a boy.
Dallin H. Oaks -Bible Stories and Personal Protection -October 1992 General Conference
Until you next read these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!
-Sarnic Dirchi
The Dream
I looked out my window, and there was a fox running around. It mingled with some dogs, with some people, I just thought it was weird that there was a fox there. But then I was at work, and Toc was there giving the morning report, which was weird because Toc wasn't supposed to be there. He gave me a smile and basically said "I'm not here officially. Just for today."
Then the unholy tones of daylight pulled me away....
and I became myself again. :)
-S.N.D
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