Jonathots Daily Blog
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When turning the other cheek, how do you ensure you won’t be slapped twice?
A door has two functions.
If open, it provides access to another possibility.
If closed, it creates curiosity, but also can pass along the impression that what is beyond the barrier is forbidden.
The reason most people fight is because the doors are closed. It’s the main reason that “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” fails to achieve any purpose–because slamming the door in the face of another human being does not mean they won’t try to burst through or close doors in your face.
Retaliation is a never-ending process–unless somebody opens a door.
I have relationships with people who are fruitful, even though they’ve been speckled with egregious conflict and offense. They work because doors are left open.
And I have broken connections with other folks that were halted because the door was slammed on communication, leaving behind a climate of mistrust–a grudge.
When you turn the other cheek, you refuse to slam the door on the possibility of creating peace.
Will someone take advantage of your willingness and slug you again? Perhaps. But if you push back they will certainly follow up their violence with additional attacks.
For after all, there are no guarantees when it comes to interaction with human beings, yet I can promise you that if you slam doors, strike out, or try to get even, you will certainly be in danger of escalating the aggression.
It is in that moment of turning the other cheek, refusing to participate, and allowing for cooler heads to prevail, that you thrust a mirror into the face of your enemy and let him or her see themselves as the villain.
Does it always work? Does anything?
Certainly there are some folks who will continue to beat on you once you stop fighting, but it is not the norm. Usually when you refuse to seek revenge, you will stall the vitriol of others and give them pause to contemplate.
In that moment, more than likely you will avoid the second slapping–and just possibly open the door to conversation.
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