Has anyone ever hurt you or wronged you? Has anyone you know ever acted in a way that you felt was terrible or wrong? Have you ever hurt or wronged someone else? Have you ever acted in a way that you felt was terrible or wrong?
The simple truth is we have all done "terrible" things at one time or another and we have all had "terrible" things done to us.
Roy’s ability to continue to love the tiger that almost killed him has an important lesson for all of us.
Roy was able to separate the tiger’s actions (or behaviour) from it’s nature (or character). Roy had known the tiger since it was a cub. He had played and performed with the magnificent animal hundreds of times. He knew from the countless interactions exactly what the great cat was like. So when it unexpectedly "attacked" him (our interpretation), he did not condemn the tiger for it’s actions but looked beyond these to see and remember its magnifigance.
When we make mistakes and act inappropriately, we need to be look beyond the actions and remember that we are a special and beautiful creation of a beautiful and loving Creator. We don’t condemn ourselves for the mistake. Instead, we remember our magnifigance and, from that place of remembering, take the appropriate steps to correct any harm we may have done. This may mean apologizing and asking for forgiveness.
Likewise, when someone else acts in a way that we view as "bad", we must remember to look beyond the actions and see the person for who they truly are. We may lovingly point out the inappopriateness of the actions while remembering and reminding the person of their wonder and value.
Whenever I feel the urge to judge or condemn, I will remember the story of Roy and the White Tiger and the important lesson it has for me.
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Michael Norwood:
Beautiful point, Don. He who is without sin, cast the first stone.
Life is a matter of focus. Sometimes we can get so focused on a single impactful event with a person, or a single flaw, we lose perspective of the thousand other wonderful things this person is . . . the thousand other things they have possibly done for us or have to meant to us.
When we open our hearts while maintaining our integrity, we find that even our greatest enemies may have qualities we can learn from. And if we’re big enough . . . even love.