As the discussion progressed, the comments and excuses for the person’s behaviour became more evident. The policeman, having just pulled the driver over, listened and was sickened by what he heard.
“Well, Officer, it’s like this! You see I’m sort of in a real hurry”.
“An emergency?” queried the Policeman. “Must be pretty important - life or death so to speak!”
“Well, er, no. It doesn’t matter though, everyone speeds occasionally. Besides there’s no cars on the road, it’s only 6am”. It’s not hurting anyone, so who cares anyway? Be a good fellow and save yourself some bookwork”.
“One day that attitude will be the end of you. You guys with all the answers, you all think it will never happen to you. That’s not what I see when I must scrape people up off the road! To those people it has happened!”
Our actions spring from our attitudes. We are responsible for both, and the consequences of what we do is ours. This alone makes the way that we think about things terribly important!
Are we people who are self-focused, or do we think of others?
Do my rights come to mind first, or have I learnt to consider how you are feeling?
The love God gives to us, has for us and wants us to share with others is about giving ourselves for others. In this sort of love our rights remain important, but our responsibilities are not sacrificed for them. That is, the rights we have are the responsibilities we have towards others! If I have the right to be treated respectfully, then I have the responsibility to respect others. Try placing these qualities in the previous sentence - to be treated fairly, to be safe, to be accepted, to be happy and you can probably think of others.
Neil P. Schiller