What happens when evil meets free will?

The answer can be found on the news every day.

Or in our courthouses every day.

It seems to be everywhere we look.

It feels almost like we are being forced to become de-sensitized to it all in order to save ourselves from spiraling down into a pit of anxiety and fear.

I feel a self-preservation mode kicking in, an instinct to isolate and insulate myself from it all by turning off the news and just ignoring the headlines.

After all, ignorance is bliss.

Isn’t it?

Don’t we have the right to feel safe in our homes and communities? Doesn’t everybody want world peace?

I get questions from friends who don’t know God like “Why would God let this stuff happen?”

My response is always the same. God doesn’t promise we won’t confront evil or have bad things happen to us. But He promises we won’t be alone if we open our hearts and trust in Him.

Oh, and don’t forget that little thing called free will that He gave us.

In our great country, we have a lot of freedoms. Freedom of speech. Freedom of religion. Freedom of press. Freedom to apply for, and receive, the right to bear arms.

With free will, we can choose how we will use these freedoms.

And the very essence of freedom is having the ability to choose between right and wrong.

***

A couple months ago, I talked about a trial that I had covered where the charges were Rape in the First Degree, Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree and Rape in the Third Degree. It involved a man and woman who had been involved in an intimate relationship in the past. At the time of the alleged assault, they were no longer in a relationship but were living in the same home with other people.

The trial lasted two weeks and the jury found the defendant guilty on all counts. Typically, sentencing occurs about six to eight weeks after a verdict.

Yesterday was the sentencing.

To recap, the victim testified for two days detailing the events of the day that led up to the alleged assault and the actions she took afterwards. All of it was corroborated by the evidence and other peoples’ testimony.

The defendant testified on his own behalf denying everything the victim said happened and, in so doing, he also contradicted his own statement to the police. He had nothing to corroborate his version, not even his prior statement because he chose to change it.

The jury came back within an hour and a half and unanimously found him guilty on every charge.

I always find sentencing day fascinating. I can only imagine what it must feel like to await that judgment from the Court, knowing you’re facing a potential range of years that will put you away for most of your young adult life.

I wonder what that last night was like. Did that person sleep comfortably knowing it would be the last night in his very own bed with his special pillow and blanket, perhaps, a glass of water on the nightstand, music playing to soothe him to sleep or the TV on in the background?

And, here, he sits at a table before a Judge, knowing he is not free to leave that chair.

Knowing he will spend year after year in a small cell with only the comfort that a steel bed and thin mattress can provide.

Knowing there will no longer be the opportunity to go for a drive to see how the leaves have turned in autumn or the fresh fallen snow amid the backdrop of sparkling Christmas lights on nearby houses.

No longer able to spontaneously decide to go grab a milkshake and a burger.

No more date nights at the movies or his favorite pizza place.

No dinners out for steak and sushi or hanging out for Monday Night Football eating chicken wings and drinking beer.

Knowing he won’t be able to hike the mountains again or go to the ocean and hear the soothing sound of the surf while feeling the sand between his toes.

For the foreseeable future, he will eat where he is told, when he is told, and what he is told.

He will share space with strangers, people who are there because they, too, made bad decisions and possibly will decide to make more. With him.

But worst of all, knowing his very own choices led to this moment where someone is now stripping him of every bit of liberty he ever had.

***

Mike had his appointment on Monday at the eye doctor. I have to say that every single person we encountered there, the staff as well as other patients, were more than kind and patient with us. Mike wanted to walk everywhere and not be in the wheelchair. It takes him a lot of time to move about.

We were met with nothing but patience, kindness and compassion.

I was able to be with him for the news that his vision loss in the left eye is permanent at this point. The doctor does think there may be some slight improvement over the next few months but does not believe he will get back to 100 percent.

She did note that he is compensating quite nicely for his left-side deficit and she said with continued PT and OT, there’s no reason why that won’t get stronger. Everything else with his eyes is within normal range.

We were prepared for the news. Mike took it well. He didn’t choose to be in this position, but he is choosing how he responds to it; with grace, hard work and gratitude to me, to family, to friends, to God.

He is very committed to working hard to get back everything he’s lost and he will continue doing what he can to achieve that goal.

***

Before the Judge pronounced sentence, she offered the defendant an opportunity to speak and say whatever he wanted. He chose to decline that last bit of freedom afforded him.

He was sentenced to 18 years in prison on the top count, then an additional 7 years on the second count and 4 years on the third count, all to run concurrent with each other. He will also have 20 years post release supervision and will be a registered sex offender for those 20 years as well.

***

We all make choices every day in life. We can choose to be kind and patient to others, and do good deeds, or we can choose to be hateful, cruel and commit evil acts.

Free will and freedom are a package deal.

The choice is yours.

Until it isn’t.