Theresa Wilson was a woman scorned. When she went to see her ex-boyfriend, she
found him with another woman!
Nobody likes to be rejected. Nobody likes the feeling of humiliation and injury
that comes of the experience. We human beings have feelings and don't appreciate
having them stomped and betrayed. Ms. Wilson is no exception. So she had a few
choice words for him and stormed out - still seething with anger.
It was only about an hour later that she spotted him driving on the street in
front of her. So she put her frustration in action and rammed his car. Not once
but twice. After the second slam, she had forced the car off the road. Only when
the driver got out and started toward her did she realize her mistake. Oops! It
wasn't the former boyfriend. It was a confused fellow driving a car similar to
his.
For her out-of-control assault on an unsuspecting and innocent driver, Ms.
Wilson was arrested by state troopers on charges of vehicular assault. She not
only learned that several different makes of compact cars look very much alike
but that revenge is seldom as sweet as it looks from a distance.
Before we are too harsh with an angry woman bent on getting even, maybe the rest
of us need to ask ourselves a few questions: How prone am I to harbor a grudge?
How inclined to get even when wronged? How quick to take offense?
There is a line near the end of Camelot that stuck in my mind the first time I
heard it. As King Arthur surveys the ruin and carnage of war, he looks forlornly
over the landscape and laments that revenge is "the most worthless of causes."
Countless wars have been fought to avenge tarnished honor. Friendships have been
destroyed, marriages broken, and children set against parents for this most
worthless of causes. Simply because it leads to such terrible outcomes, most of
the great ethical teachers across the centuries have rebuked the urge to
retaliate. Jesus not only taught his followers to let offenses pass - to turn
the other cheek - but to forgive our enemies. He said to return good for evil.
If you have suffered some slight that is haunting you still and tempting you to
get even, you might reflect on Theresa Wilson's experience. Is the pettiness of
revenge any less if you ram the right car? Hurt the person you intended to
injure? Or does retaliation simply diminish you and reveal your lack of
character?
Revenge is never really about getting even. To the contrary, it is always a form
of falling below another. Only forgiveness allows you to rise above.
Rubel Shelly www.RubelShelly.com
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