As we were walking to our car Sunday morning in the garage parking, a man called to us. "Are you the owners of Bailey?...I think I owe you a deep apology. It was my dogs who got out of their crates and came after her. I am so sorry." He asked about her health, had she been hurt and apologized again and again.
I was so touched. He could have easily ignored us. He could have easily said nothing. But here was a man who stepped forward, acknowledged that his dogs had at the very least frightened me, my husband and our dog. And took total responsibility for the encounter. No excuses, no rationalization.
In this day and age this man's actions of acknowledging the problem and taking responsibility seem so unique. So very often we hear about and have experience with people who only want to deny any wrongdoing or shift the blame to someone else. Here was a moral and ethical man who had learned to accept his responsibility and learned to say, "I am sorry." It made all the difference in how I think of the incident and of him.
Am I able to accept responsibility for my part of troublesome encounters? Am I able to say "I'm so sorry?"
Have I taught my children this lesson as well as I should have?
Am I as moral and ethical as I think I am? It really does become a spiritual matter.
Blessings-Penny
No comments:
Post a Comment