Journal 7 "Salvation" response essay , The Invisible Pressure

Marquise Nurse-Williams
Dawn Blunk
HU090 Section A2
11.18.10
                                                             The Invisible Pressure
                     
                      In “Salvation” Langston Hughes wrote of a time he fell to the peer pressure of his family and the members of his church. They told him he would see Jesus, physically, he thought. Toward the end of this essay he feels pressured to conform to his families wishes that he would see the lord and come to be saved at the alter as the preacher sang a hymn. Misinterpreting his family he finds he did not receive a visit from the lord and feels guilty for confessing and saying he had seen Jesus when he did not and he now does not believe Jesus Christ really exists anymore. If he learned anything from this situation it’s that he has to stay true to himself and tell everyone what he really feels, otherwise he’ll only feel the guilt inside if he doesn’t speak what he feels is the truth. There has only been one person in my life who has ever had the power to really pressure or tempt me to do anything I wouldn’t normally do. I’ll refer to her as Mai.
                         First time I was ever pressured to do drugs was when I started dating Mai. She was a wild party girl and a lot of fun to hang out with. The problem was that she was really into experimenting with drugs and drinking heavily due to her problems in the past. She says “It helps me to stop thinking about my problems.” Sometimes she would push me to try a drug, knowing she could make me do almost anything at the time because she knew I was practically in love with her. I’m proud to say I didn’t try the drugs realizing the consequences they would have on me and my life. Actually, I tried to help her out of her addictions and bring her back to Christ like she use to when she was younger before she began to lack in faith. I think I kind of got through.
                  Along with this, Mai also attempted to get me involved in her drug dealing game. She thought of herself as a king pin of the streets. She and a couple of her family members stole illegal drugs from a neighborhood dealer. She wanted me to go back and pick up her family members with the drugs in my car and drop them off safely at home. At the time, I thought I would have done anything for this girl but I took a moment to myself and remembered if I ever got caught , I’d lose everything I worked for. I’d lose my job at the police department and the military and I wouldn’t have such a bright future to look forward to anymore. In that moment I made the conscious decision to decline her proposition.
                       Also, in a brighter light, Mai pressured me to be more outgoing while I was with her. She and I went to all sorts of different parties around town. We went to bars, clubs, played pool, and drank all around the city. That’s not me, I’m normally the fly on the wall watching everybody else have fun. Although, that’s not the case when we kick it, we had more good times together than I’d ever had coming up.
                        I find that having had an emotional attachment with Mai made me so much more susceptible to peer pressure and any temptation she sent my way, may it be a good idea or not. More so than anyone else before her anyway. I never had a problem saying no in those situations until she came along. Caring for someone can make the most logical thinking person make some of the most illogical moves if your not careful. Luckily I was wise enough to think things through rather than be so impulsive. Mai ended up getting caught by the police in one of her drug lord escapades. That probably would’ve been me next to her in that cop car if I hadn’t resisted the pressure and realized in time she didn‘t really care about my well being. My parents taught me growing up this chapter, “Therefore take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Ephesians 6:13.” It came in handy for me when the time came. In the back of my mind I hope Mai found a better life.