Some sweet, extended family members went out Friday evening for dinner and a quick errand. Dinner was great, but then, after venturing in and out of Pet Smart, one of them started to back up the truck\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2026 and he hit her.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer\u201d was a young gal in her lower-sitting sedan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Daily, no doubt, conflict exists. We run into trouble with people who get in our way, who inconvenience us\u2026 hit us\u2026 hurt us\u2026 even cause damage.<\/p>\n Maybe the damage is minimal \u2014 just a fender bender, perhaps \u2014 but maybe it\u2019s more\u2026 it can feel so harsh! Maybe, in fact, it\u2019s simply their existence that we find so damaging to what we are trying to do or where we are attempting to go.<\/p>\n In so many places and pockets these days, we find persons unwilling to tolerate even the existence of another. How many times have we read a social media thread where someone calls someone else out, simply saying, \u201cSTOP!\u201d\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n I\u2019m offended! \u2026 you and your opinion are not welcome here.<\/i><\/p>\n I\u2019m offended! \u2026 that is not an angle I will allow to be discussed.<\/i><\/p>\n I\u2019m offended! \u2026 you are ignorant; no need for civility with you.<\/i><\/p>\n The sequence starts with offense.<\/p>\n Observe once more our family members and their accident\u2026<\/p>\n The damage was minor, but damage nonetheless; both parties had cause \u2014 justified grounds \u2014 for offense. But notice what they chose\u2026<\/p>\n As they awaited for the police to arrive, my family members began to converse with the twenty-something female driver of a car that was \u201cpretty blue and fairly new.\u201d<\/p>\n While engaging in interactive, listening-oriented dialogue, they quickly found common ground. The gal works at my family’s doctor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n The common ground brought trust, and so they spoke more. And more. Even though the setting had all the potential for opposition and offense, they chose<\/i> otherwise, knowing the issue would be mended faster and better if they could see something good or common in the other.<\/p>\n After all information was exchanged and the police had finished making record of the accident, see the reaction of those involved, before they resumed their evenings as planned:<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026 she said she felt like us literally running into each other was a \u2018God-thing,\u2019 as she loved having the opportunity to talk with us. She said she felt like God allowed that little accident to happen just so we had that time together.<\/i><\/p>\n The policeman even told us both how nice it was to deal with people who weren\u2019t all irate and screaming at each other\u2026\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n So often we choose<\/i> to be offended. We have grounds; our offense is justified.<\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But what if we chose otherwise?<\/i><\/p>\n Said the family:<\/p>\n \u201cTheir comments touched my heart, and it just goes to show you how our words and reactions to a situation can make all the difference in the world. This turned out to be a positive experience rather than a negative one, because of their reactions\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n An experience I will never forget\u2026 it brought tears to my eyes.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n Choosing not to be offended\u2026 finding common ground\u2026 listening\u2026 still dealing with the issue but in an honoring-of-all kind of way\u2026<\/p>\n What a positive experience.<\/p>\n Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Some sweet, extended family members went out Friday evening for dinner and a quick errand. Dinner was great, but then, after venturing in and out of Pet Smart, one of them started to back up the truck\u2026 \u2026 and he hit her. \u201cHer\u201d was a young gal in her lower-sitting sedan.\u00a0 Daily, no doubt, conflict … <\/p>\n