Charity

We probably all agree that this world can be a messed-up place. A really messed-up messy place. Sometimes I think we all need to just take a step back and realize what little consequence other people's actions have on our happiness. Try not to get so hot and bothered about what other people are doing. A friend shared a personal experience with me that I'd like to share with you. I'll title it, The Parable of the Pies.


The Parable of the Pies

A woman was asked to help with refreshments for a Relief Society activity and she lovingly spent painstaking hours preparing several pies for the event. She cleaned out the trunk of her car and carefully arranged the pies to minimize the risk of jostling and spillage during their transport to the church. She got in her vehicle and travelled at a snail's pace for the few miles that covered the distance between her home and her destination.

Doesn't this woman sound like a nice lady? The kind of person you'd like for a neighbor, right?

Sometime after leaving her home, the woman's vehicle was being followed by another car. The other driver was livid with the tortoise-like speed she was maintaining. With much honking and gesturing, he took the soonest opportunity to pass her and shouted some choice words out the window as he did.

Do you think the guy would've displayed such behavior if he knew the lady was carrying a precious delivery of pies in her trunk?

For me, 'pies in the trunk' has become a way of thinking from an other's perspective, to walk a mile in his moccasins. Sometimes people have a good reason for doing what they're doing, and just because you don't understand it doesn't mean you should get bent out of shape over it. That doesn't mean you have to like what everyone around you is doing, but perhaps just grin, bear it, and let go. Does it really hurt you? Does this person have any intentions of hurting you, or did you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and it just really irritated you? Think twice about things, give people the benefit of the doubt. A little charity goes a long way.

(Come to think of it, someone might read this and think I'm in way over my head in saying some of these things. But, there you have it. I just might have a few pies in my trunk.)