“The wicked flee where no man pursueth.” recognizes a basic part of the human program that The Loving Programmer has downloaded within each of us. The human program is programmed to be fearful of being caught and punished for doing wrong. So, when we do wrong, some manifestation of the “flight command” kicks in. To avoid being caught and punished, we are programmed to flee, rarely realizing that having to run is, itself, a punishment.
This description of a basic human programming element helps us in many ways. As soon as we see ourselves thinking about how we would get out of trouble that we’re likely to get into, we know that we are thinking about avoiding the consequences of doing something wrong. Understanding this basic part of the human operating system warns us to avoid doing anything that prompts us to think about how we’re going to let the “flight command” take over our program if we do what we’re thinking about.
Almost as important, we also bear in mind that when we see other people running, that they are doing so because they have done something wicked.
So, we should try to familiarize ourselves with the various “flight patterns” we use when contemplating doing something we shouldn’t and watch for them in others. These “flight patterns” do not always consist of actually moving, as to another town, but of fleeing into the thickets of excuses and justifications that surround every soul. That from which all who flee are trying to hide? The judgment of The Programmer.
There are times that we can actually profit from watching and listening perceptively enough to realize someone is fleeing or thinking about doing so. Then, we realize that they’ve done something wrong, and maybe, avoid an injury as we find out that we, ourselves, might be in the flight path of a fleeing person. There can be danger in such a location.
