Sunday, January 23, 2011
Jon Burge and a True Stoic
I took a break from rolling newspapers this morning when an acquaintance in the single copy area stopped to show me his quote in a Chicago newspaper story regarding the Jon Burge conviction.
On Friday, former Chicago officer Burge was sentenced to four and a half years in a federal prison. For years, Burge had been torturing black men to obtain confessions to an assortment of crimes, including robbery and murder. This acquaintance had been suffocted and electrocuted by Burge and subsequently spent decades in prison. He had testified at Burge's trial.
However, he wasn't sharing the gruesome details this morning. Rather, he talked about his lack of bitterness about his experiences, despite the fact his wife had died while he was serving time, and his children had grown up without their father. He quoted from the poem, "Footprints," thankful that God had carried him through his troubles and brought him home.
I was quietly impressed by what he wanted to tell me. You know, it doesn't take much stamina to inflict; just ask any bully. But to withstand and exit whole and unscathed...that's real strength.
On Friday, former Chicago officer Burge was sentenced to four and a half years in a federal prison. For years, Burge had been torturing black men to obtain confessions to an assortment of crimes, including robbery and murder. This acquaintance had been suffocted and electrocuted by Burge and subsequently spent decades in prison. He had testified at Burge's trial.
However, he wasn't sharing the gruesome details this morning. Rather, he talked about his lack of bitterness about his experiences, despite the fact his wife had died while he was serving time, and his children had grown up without their father. He quoted from the poem, "Footprints," thankful that God had carried him through his troubles and brought him home.
I was quietly impressed by what he wanted to tell me. You know, it doesn't take much stamina to inflict; just ask any bully. But to withstand and exit whole and unscathed...that's real strength.
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