I had mixed feeling when I read this story recently. I think you will know what I mean. But I wanted to share it because it conveys such an important message. I'll share my thoughts at the end.
A doctor entered the hospital in a hurry
after being called in for an urgent surgery. He answered the call ASAP, changed
his clothes and went directly to the surgery block. He found the boy’s father pacing up and down the hall, waiting for the doctor.
Upon seeing him, the dad yelled “Why did it
take you so long to get here? Don’t you know that my son’s life is in danger?
Don’t you have a sense of responsibility?”
The doctor smiled and said, “I am
sorry. I wasn’t in the hospital and I came as fast as I could when I received
the call. And now, I wish you’d calm down so that I can do my work.”
“Calm down?! What if it was your son in
this room right now, would you calm down? If your own son was dying right now
what would you do?” said the father angrily.
The doctor smiled again and replied, “I
would say what Job said in the Holy Bible, ‘From dust we came and to dust we
return, blessed be the name of God.’ Doctors cannot prolong lives. Go and
intercede for your son, we will do our best by God’s grace.”
“Giving advice when we’re not concerned is
so easy” murmured the father.
The surgery took some hours, after which
the doctor came out happy. “Thank God! Your son will live.” And without waiting
for the father’s reply he ran out of the hospital. “If you have any questions,
ask the nurse!”
“Why is he so arrogant? He couldn’t even
wait five minutes so that I could ask about my son’s condition”, commented the
father to the nurse minutes after the doctor left.
The nurse answered, tears rolling down her
face, “his son died yesterday in an auto accident. He was at the burial when we
called him for your son’s surgery. And now that he saved your son’s life, he
hurried back to his family to finish his son’s burial.”
Maybe my actions could be interpreted as irresponsible, selfish or uncaring to them. However, if they knew what I (and my family) was dealing with they would have a very different perspective on it. Maybe, like the Doctor in this story, they would think the exact opposite and call me unselfish, giving and very responsible.
You never know what is happening in
someone’s life or what difficulties they are dealing with. This story is a great reminder to cut others some slack. Let's not be so quick to judge. When we judge, we do so with the limited information we have. Experience has shown me that very rarely does anyone truly know what someone else is experiencing in life. Even when we do think we know, we rarely (if ever) fully understand how these experiences are affecting them. Sometimes we find out later, sometimes we never do. Either way, we should assume the best and treat others with the kindness and respect that we would want from them.
Have you ever had an experience where your perception of someone was changed by information you received at a later time? Has it made you less judging of others actions?
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Such an interesting story. We really don't know what problems others may be facing and we shouldn't be so quick to judge. Give people the benefit of the doubt unless we truly know better. We don't want to be misjudged, so we shouldn't misjudge others. Thanks for posting this.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree, Jeff! We just need to assume that there is ALWAYS more to the story than we know.
ReplyDeleteGlad to have you here! Drop by often and say hi.
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