A few nights ago, I was talking with someone who told me he had been listening to a talk I had given some years ago. In the talk, I had related a true story about a snake, a cat, and a compassionate husband and wife. You can read the blog entry that tells what happened here. Essentially, a couple found a six-foot python in their bathroom. Worried about their cat, yet not wanting to harm the snake, they called a snake catcher who caught the snake and released it unharmed in a safer habitat.
The person who had listened to the story at night later went to sleep. The next day, he listened to the news. One of the major stories was of a couple who found a snake. But the husband's reaction was very different from the husband in the above account. This man acted not out of compassion but more likely out of fear, and possibly anger. It is believed that he and his wife were trying to flush out the snake that was in a shed. The man's gun went off accidentally, and he shot his wife dead. They had four children.
Every moment, we decide what to do in the next. Every choice will have a consequence. What consequences?
The mind of understanding. Or the mind of fear.
Knowing that you had acted wisely. Or knowing that you had acted impulsively, without thinking.
A moment of knowing you did what was compassionate. Or a lifetime of knowing you had killed the mother of your four children.