[photo:juiceddesign.net]“Why won’t you guys listen to me? I don’t deserve this! I was the one who got hit and this cop arrested me!” yelled a drunk female arrestee, with buckets of tears freely-flowing down her flushed cheeks.
“Shh…Calm down, Ma’am. I need you to be quiet so I can hear your blood pressure,” I softly commanded.
“No! It’s so unfair!” she continued to yell at the top of her lungs as both of her arms were immobilized by 2 female deputies.
After the machine was not able to get a blood pressure reading, I got 160/100 using the manual cuff.
“Sorry, Officer…I can’t admit her. Her blood pressure is too high and she needs to be examined at the ER,” I informed the arresting cop.
He knew I had been patient with his arrestee. He didn’t say anything for a minute. Then, came a request:
“Ma’am, will you please give me a chance to talk to her and let her calm down a little bit? Please?”…He knew every minute was important for the nurses at the prison. There was no time for that. Either we would okay for their arrestees to stay in the jail or not. Simple as that.
But seeing how agitated this drunk woman was, and having a little bit of quiet time on the male side, I agreed. I heard the cop let out a sigh. Sigh of relief.
Talked to her, he did. But it wasn’t working. She became more agitated, seeing his face and being reminded of her “unfair arrest” [her own opinion]. I intervened…
“Ma’am…do you want to go home sooner?”
“Yes! Because I don’t belong here!” her answer penetrating my ear drums with an uproar.
“Shh...Okay, then. Why don’t you relax and just calm down! They will just wait out until you get sober. If you remain calm and just listen to them, you will be released in a few hours. However, if you choose not to, the longer you are going to stay here!” I replied.
She didn’t say anything. Tears continued to flow. But silence ensued for a few minutes.
“There you go! Why don’t you take a deep breath!” And she obeyed…Sensing she was more relaxed after a few minutes, I rechecked her blood pressure: “140/90”. A more acceptable reading. I grabbed my pen and signed the health screen form so she could be processed. The cop shouted with joy and thanked me for being so patient and giving him another chance.
“You don’t need to thank me. I saw that from the beginning. She needed to just be still and relax,” I told the officer.
So many distractions here in this planet. Distractions that take away our attention and time that should be spent on seeking God. Life is unfair we say, but the reason is not because God does not hear our prayers. It is not because He is so far away. It is because we don’t often pause nor give time to listen to His voice. It is because we don’t seek that place of rest where we can meet Him.
He longs to talk to us. He longs for us to seek Him first. He wants us to put Him as number 1 in our lives. In our hearts. In our minds. But we never see it that way. We are either too distracted or our pride meter is running high…It is time to pause. Time to take a deep breath. Time to be still. Time to know that there is only one God Who loves us first.
