Heart2Heart SHARING

So, I walk into the veterinarian’s office this morning and as soon as I open the door, I see a guy holding his fist in a position that implied he was getting prepared to knock someone from here to eternity. Not quite what I was expecting to encounter at 8:30 in the morning, at a vet’s office. The person about to get knocked out was this guy’s “girlfriend” or “wife”. She obviously had been beaten before and even in a public place, she offered to defense.

I guess the guy figured out it wasn’t the best place to “beat up his girlfriend”, or he remembered there was a local police officer in the building with his canine partner; either way he didn’t hit the girl. Instead, he screamed “just wait till I get you home and I’ll stick you six feet under”. Again, this was not quite what I expected to run smack into the middle of at 8:30 in the morning, at a vet’s office. The “couple” went tearing out the door with the guy continuing to scream at the girl threats of impending pain and suffering.

About 5 minutes later, the local police officer came out of an exam room and upon hearing about what just happened, his response was; “I bet on the evening news tonight you’ll see another murder story”. He then went on to talk about the upturn in domestic violence calls the department had been receiving. After he left, the two receptionists said they were seeing more and more “unhappy” people coming in the office every day. They, like the officer earlier, had no explanation as to why.

As this day has inched along, I have thought long and hard about what I witnessed and heard this morning. To say I have been troubled would be a gross understatement. I don’t live in a huge city and the type of thing I saw this morning just doesn’t happen out here in the distant suburbs. Of course I have seen angry people and I have seen people hit other people, but not at 8:30 in the morning, at a vet’s office.

I didn’t catch the news this evening to see if the police officer’s words came to pass. I wouldn’t doubt that they did, though I certainly pray they didn’t. Regardless of how the above described situation turned out, I am left with one huge question. Why would a man, especially if he is big and strong, feel it necessary to physically beat a woman? I have never understood what enters the mind of man who beats his wife or girlfriend. It totally is beyond my ability to comprehend.

Recently, in a very small town in the next county over, someone started putting pieces of broken glass into pieces of meat and throwing them over fences to helpless dogs. The dogs would gladly eat the meat and the glass would literally rip open their intestines as the meat got digested. In a matter of a few weeks, this “person” succeeded in killing 9 dogs in this small town. Everyone in town knew who was responsible, but no one could catch him in the act.

My wife and I have two dogs. We were never fortunate enough to have children. Our dogs have, over the years, filled the vacuum not having children left. To us, our dogs are our children. We spoil them and do whatever needs to be done to make them feel loved, happy and healthy. The thought of someone deliberately tricking dogs into eating meat that will surely kill them is both utterly disgusting and totally repulsive to me. I could honestly see myself physically hurting this pervert if he ever tried to hurt one of our dogs.

Again, I am left with a question I don’t believe there is an answer to; why would a human have to resort to tricking dogs into eating something that will surely kill them? Is this a form of “hunting” to this pervert? Does it honestly give him satisfaction to know he not only took the life of an innocent canine, but also destroyed the lives of its owners? What is wrong with people? What has happened to our society when men come within a whisper of beating their “girl” in public or men take out their anger and frustration on, or consider it “fun” to kill animals who cannot offer any defense?

Being a man, I am not proud of what men do to each other in the name of power, greed and ego. Being a man, I am disgusted and ashamed of what other men do to hapless animals in the name of sport or entertainment. Being a man, I am repulsed beyond words at what other degenerate and pathetic excuses for men do to women and children simply because they may be stronger. When I see and come face to face with the utter depravity of character other men have sunk to, I want to just go do the most “unmanly” thing of all—cry.

Almighty God originally created man in His own image. Obviously somewhere along the line, man has totally forgotten this truth. What man does “in the name of God” is so far removed from God it is a crime. In case after case, “men of God” have lied through their teeth while telling everyone “trust me”. Great ministers whose faces would splash television screens daily have succeeded in amassing fortunes by getting their audiences to “trust them” with their tithes and offerings. So called “men of the cloth” have been tried and convicted in courts of law for molesting the children and raping the wives of the very elders of their church.

Being a “minister”, I am not proud of what others have done to spoil not only our image, but God’s, through their embezzlement and fraud. Being a minister, I am disgusted and ashamed by the elaborate lies others fabricate to “save their skins” when their secret lives are discovered. Being one ordained to help others get to know the love and mercy of God; I am repulsed and disgusted by the sordid behavior of others whose conscience is seared with a hot iron and whose actions are worse than the man who beats his wife or kills his neighbor’s dogs.

We live in a world turned upside down. Those who should be leading the way to that which is good, right and just, are so caught up in their error, all they can do is lead people to hell. I have no respect for anyone who says; “do as I say, but not as I do”. This type of sanctimonious arrogance is what has led individuals, couples, congregations and even nations down the road of perdition and disgrace. A leader should lead by example not words. People need a leader to keep them from falling into the ditch, not someone who falls in the ditch and says “follow me”.

Personally, I have no “tolerance” for wife beaters, dog killers, child molesters and sordid clergymen who feign piety but live like the devil. When people tell me I must be more “tolerant” of others behavior, I will agree to a certain point. But, when someone else steals, molests, rapes and kills; my tolerance runs dry. Laws are supposed to be made to protect the innocent. Laws in a society are supposed to keep in check those who through their wicked nature prey upon unsuspecting and naïve people, who by their very nature are trusting.

We must not allow our “tolerance” to hurt others. Certain behavior must be considered “intolerable”. We cannot give depraved people “carte blanche” to carry out every whim of mischief they cunningly devise in their hearts. There has to be boundaries set where certain things are “out of bounds”. If we continue to stretch those boundaries long enough, just like a rubber band, they will break. At some point, as a society, we must demand that the referees enforce the rules and start calling penalties when infractions occur, instead of turning their heads and pretending not to see them.

Tolerance is perfectly acceptable in situations where behavior doesn’t hurt someone else. If a person wants to hurt himself, then let him. But if that which he wants to do, or “can’t help doing” is going to injure, hurt or kill someone else; it cannot be tolerated. As a society, our very survival depends on our ability to tolerate what is trivial or personal and not tolerate any behavior which is damaging and injurious to another. For the sake of innocent “girlfriends” and helpless dogs; we must never allow certain sordid behavior to be deemed acceptable.