Learning To Fear The Dozer Men
We didn't mean any harm. Really. Neither did we see the danger. We were just two boys having a good time--until the dozer men showed up.
There was some road construction near where Mike Foote and I were playing, and heavy machinery was scattered everywhere. Dump trucks, bulldozers, graders, and more. Just the kind of stuff that boys would like to play on.
So that's just what we decided to do, Mike and I. He lives a million miles away these days--so don't try to find him. But he still remembers that lazy afternoon when the construction workers left their toys unattended.
Dirt and equipment surounded us, beckoning investigation. Boys seem to be drawn to machines, the bigger the better. And feeling that universal magnetism, we succumbed. What would be wrong with a close-up look?
Nothing, we instantly decided, and plunged into the adventure.
I don't remember which of us made the crucial discovery: a key had been left in one of the dozers. And I don't remember who decided to turn the key. No matter. The behemoth rumbled to life as if we had done that sort of thing a thousand times.
We had obviously overreached our understanding of machinery. The dozer slowly turned in a tight circle, pushing up dirt as it dug itself into an ever-deepening hole. But our electric excitement was rudely short-circuited. The dozer men were upon us!
A truck rocketed our way. Caught red-handed and lead-footed, we alighted from the lurching machine for the safety of the woods. Dozer men swarmed in fevered pursuit. They shouted and shook angry fists. We ran. They followed. But the swift feet of youth prevailed--momentarily.
They soon regained the advantage, patrolling escape routes in their truck. Cornered, we rightfully feared for our lives. Justice would be swift and harsh. Somehow, however, we surreptitiously snaked through woods and neighborhoods to safety. And there we watched and sweated until the dozer men finally abandoned the hunt.
The fear of the dozer men kept us from further mischief, unintended as it was. Would we have feared them if we could have endlessly appealed our crime and postponed a final reckoning for years? Hardly. The promise of immediate retribution both cured us in a day and rescued us from harm.
A proverb says, "By the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil." But evil today is ravenous, prowling monster because there's no fear of God--or His civil authorities.
Perhaps it's time to replace those who hobble the march of justice with some "dozer men" intent on reclaiming lost ground. With a healthy fear of God and His ordained authorities thus restored, evil would retreat, and we'd live calmer, safer lives.
Copyright 2001 James McAlister
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