Understanding

It’s in the nature of many animals to bite, right? No matter how docile or trained an animal is, there seems to be some raw instinct in them that can come out if necessary. Even my little kitten bites, though it’s more of a playful gnawing, but I’d still like him to stop. My ankles are starting to get raw!
However, it becomes more serious when that animal has a history of biting and especially if that animal is big. Growing up, I know we had to put down a few animals because of their biting issues. However, in the Tiger King, when one of the workers lost part of his arm due to a tiger bite, the big cat wasn’t put down. Which got me thinking, how should we react when animals attack?
In watching the worker’s reaction on the Tiger King, it was amazing how he took so much of the responsibility. He even apologized to the owner and never blamed the tiger for it. And I think we can do the same thing, too. We just say that it was in its nature. Maybe we excuse it because it was a ‘fight or flight’ situation or it felt cornered or it was disoriented. And we excuse the behavior of a dog, cat or tiger that attacks someone.
And I’m not saying we shouldn’t. I truly believe that people need to take responsibility for their part in these attacks. The worker on Tiger King had worked with those tigers for quite a while and knew better than to do what he did. We need to truly respect animals, their space and how they might respond as a part of a natural inclinations.
And so, what’s my point? (I’m sure I’ve got one here somewhere.) Well, my point is that we often are forgiving and gracious and understanding when it comes to animals. Especially if they are our own animals. Even if they bite or scratch us, we defend them by rationalizing their behavior. And I’m not saying that’s wrong…but what about people? Are we as gracious, understanding and forgiving of others? Do we rationalize and defend some of their behavior as natural inclinations?
Now, obviously people are different than animals. That whole higher brain function is important. But maybe our communities and our neighborhoods would look a little different if we gave people a little more benefit of the doubt. Maybe we’d be a little more gracious if we took the time to hear about how someone grew up or their life circumstances. Maybe we’d be more forgiving if we put ourselves in the other person’s shoes occasionally.
So my prayer for us is that if we can defend Rover when he bites the mailman, maybe we can take the time to understand why our neighbors act the way they do. God bless.