When you live downtown as I do, Gentle Reader, you are every day getting exposed to all kinds of dumb, selfish and irrational behaviour from others. And sometimes others are going to be tolerating the same bad behaviour from you, or me. I felt strongly aware of this as I was making my way through downtown this afternoon, running some errands. I was being bombarded with other people's irritating behaviour. And all because of one unpleasant little fact. We human beings, even more than our capacity for being nasty and cruel and selfish, are incredibly stupid. Every last one of us. Whether you are driving around like a maniac in a sports car with the most godawful rap music thundering from your stereo, or if you're blowing cigarette smoke in people's faces, or walking with your dog off leash and unprotected, or pick any one, we are for the most part incredibly and unforgivably dumb.
Which has today brought me to the conclusion of the importance of forgiving others for being stupid. And myself as well. It is mentioned in the Gospels how heavy was the heart of Jesus for all the lost and confused people that surrounded him, like sheep without a shepherd. And now it is finally dawning on me that this is really why I get so irritated with other people. Because I have never thought of forgiving them for being stupid. But that is what we are. We are idiots. Might as well forgive, accept, laugh about it and then move on.
Except for one salient and very uncomfortable little detail. Who is going to clean up the mess that is always going to be the natural fallout of our individual and collective stupidity. Love is forgiveness, yes. Love is also acceptance. True enough. And love is also not judging. Amen, brother (sister, too!, or better, amen, sibling!) But there also comes a time when forgiveness has to give way to confrontation. I am thinking of a conversation I had a couple of weeks ago with one of my clients. The idea was that we all have a right to our different opinions. Fair enough. For example, if I happen to believe that the earth is flat. And maybe I do, but you are going to have to wait a while, Gentle Reader, for my Flat Earth series of blog posts. On the other hand, I might also believe that it is cruel to leash or muzzle a pit pull dog and that they should always be allowed to run free. My opinion about the earth being flat, if it is indeed flat, is simply a harmless eccentricity. No one gets harmed or hurt by believing that the earth is flat, except maybe those foolish enough to sail off the end of the earth and get eaten by dragons!
But if I also happen to believe also in the divine right of pit bulls and by extension, their owners, well then we are headed for trouble. Because if I decide to get a pit bull, and let him run free downtown or in a park, and should my darling puppy-dog be badly trained, poorly socialized, and should my little poochie have a taste for child flesh, well, you know what I can do with my opinion.
We are living in dangerous and challenging times. We need everyone to pull together, and only one selfish and irresponsible dumbass in denial can end up making life difficult and miserable for all the rest of us. Yes, Lord, forgive them their stupidity, and forgive me for my stupidity, but sometimes in the name of love we have to act in ways that are not necessarily kind and gentle. And then what...?
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