In The City

Have you ever been really scared in your life? Was there ever a time or place that you thought your time on earth was about to end, or in the very least you were going to face extremely painful bodily harm?

I lived in New York City back in the mid-1980’s, a country-hick turned loose in the big city for the very first time. I was on my own and had been left to my own devices, a sailor in the service of the U.S. Coast Guard that by chance happened to find himself stationed in the harbor on Governor’s Island. Oddly enough, I had very little trouble adjusting to my new surroundings, but I would not say that I thrived in that environment. The troubles I eventually faced, when they came around, were largely the result of growing up in the South and being extremely naïve as a result.

As a member of the military, we were allowed to go to baseball games at Yankee or Shea Stadium - for free. We could simply go to the press gate and show our ID card, and we’d be rewarded with a nose-bleed seat in the upper deck behind home plate. Being that the Mets were having a banner year and would win the World Series when October came calling; most of the games we attended were in Flushing Meadows. If the Mets were playing a series at home, we would scrape together enough change for a subway ticket and off we’d go to the ballpark. It was a lot of fun and gave us something to do that was cheap, as none of us ever seemed to have any money during that tepid summer.

One night a game went into extra innings, and I can’t be sure but I think it went fourteen innings before the contest ended. I do not remember much about the game other than the length, and I cannot recall who won. But I will never forget what happened after the game.

We took the subway back into Manhattan, and once there we had to switch trains for the trip down to the Battery and our ferry back to the island. We had performed that feat on many occasions, but this night was different. For some reason it seemed like a great idea to go up out of the subway and walk around Times Square, despite the fact that by now it was in the very early hours of the morning. I preached to my children while they were growing up that ‘nothing good ever happens after midnight’ and that wisdom was actually ingrained in me during that night in the city so long ago.

To make a long story short, my friend and I ended up being mugged at knife-point; he lost his wallet and I lost my money. I can almost see the robber’s face to this day, dark and foreboding, and very angry that between us we had very little money to steal. It was a hairy situation and I knew we were in trouble. I was shaking all over and physically sick – this was something that happened to other people or stuff they showed on television – no way it could be happening to me. On the verge of panic, suddenly a verse from Psalms came to my mind. I know that God sent His Spirit to remind me of it just when I needed it the most. “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” Psalms 56:3. Staring at the knife, I began repeating it in my mind like a mantra.

The criminal stopped threatening us with his knife and instead opened my wallet. He sighed and shook his head, (What time) then looked back down at me. (I am afraid) He took my ten dollars out of my wallet, along with my subway token, (I will trust) and then dropped my wallet on the ground at my feet. (In Thee) Smiling at me, which did not make me feel any better; he turned and ran back into the deep-black pervasiveness of the night. Still shaking and nauseous, I gathered up my wallet and noticed that my driver’s license, military ID, and lone credit card were intact as well as my pictures and belongings. Most importantly, I was alive and unharmed.

We had to walk from 42nd Street all the way to the Battery, which is quite a hike, especially at three AM in the morning. But we made it and we both learned a hard lesson. I did not report the crime because nothing would have been done about it and I felt pretty foolish about the whole ordeal. There was no way I was going to admit how hay-seed and gullible I had been to anyone in authority, because by then I considered myself a veteran of the city and thought I knew her ways.

In the end I was not harmed, other than the loss of an insignificant amount of money. But I took something of much more value than ten dollars from that experience – I acquired further proof that God is always there when I need Him most.