Rehab Through Compassion
February 17th, 2012
My father Roger Martinez Locke was a classical music professor at the Conservatory and the University of Puerto Rico, a professional clarinetist, early-music ensemble conductor, lecturer, etc. He was also a Renaissance man and walking encyclopedia of world history, culture and fine arts. He could speak Spanish, English and French fluently, plus knew some Latin, Russian and Italian. His every-day handwriting was in calligraphy and he also had hobbies of photography, painting, cooking and CYCLING! But above all his vast education, he was a great soul, a true humanitarian and a saint with a huge heart. It was from him that I learned the true meaning of Christian charity, compassion and forgiveness. Here's an example and a true story:
When I was about eight years old, he was an avid cyclist who taught himself to build racing bicycles from the frame up, including assembling all the wheels and components from parts he would order from catalogs in the US and Europe. There were no serious cycling shops on the island and no Internet back then. He had a small 10'x10' tool shack in the back of the house that served as his “taller de bicicletas”. By then, he had assembled a professional racing aqua-green-colored Benoto bike that was his proud jewel. We kids received fancy Raleigh bicycles for Christmas that year – mine was a beloved candy-apple red!
About three or four months later, someone broke into our property and stole ALL of our priceless bicycles! I was heart-broken, as was my dad, especially because of all the hard work he had poured into building them. I'm sure you get the picture. The next day the police came to our house and said that they had seen a “barrio young delinquent(s)” riding one of these very unusual fancy bikes throughout our blue-collar urban development (“urbanizacion”) and the adjacent poor-rural neighborhood, alerting them to something amiss. They questioned (in Puerto Rico that means "lightly" beating-up) him until he confessed to stealing these bikes from a (our) house. Hand-cuffed in the patrol car, he had directed the policemen to our home.
The police wanted my parents to press charges so they could lock him (and his collaborators) up, “as these hoodlums should be”, they said. They didn't know they were talking to Professor Roger Martinez, who immediately said, “hold your horses gentlemen! Bring him here, I want to talk to this kid”. My parents treated him with dignity and compassion. Dad said to him: “You like bikes? Then come to my workshop and I'll teach you". He gave him the opportunity to return the stolen bikes in exchange for coming to his workshop for a few hours a day to work with him in restoring the bikes.
This proved to be a true rehabilitation via compassion and trust. He did NOT disappoint my father! He came through: the bikes were restored, he became an avid “student” and friend of my dad, and he also became a cyclist, later competing in local races in the sport. As a by-product, the word spread through the neighborhoods and our house (and family) was deemed a "sanctuary" protected from any "harm" from crime.
An act and leap of FAITH results in a win-win situation. Compassion will never let you down! It is through this type of teach-by-example at HOME education I received from my parents, that I learned more of the values of Love, Peace, Truth, Non-Violence and Right Conduct than from any other religious institution or church.
In gratitude: Happy Birthday Mom (Feb 3rd) and Dad (RIP, Feb 15th).
~ Article submitted by SQ Member, Lyriana Martinez
Lyriana is a Flight Attendant spreading Prema Agni energy on her flights, and a Rising Star Healing practitioner in Fort Worth TX (relocating later this year to the Boston metro area). You may read more similar stories in her blog "Spirituality in the Flesh" at http://spiritualityintheflesh.blogspot.com/
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