Throughout our lives, we may have encountered injustices and hardships that often lead to developing a negative self-centered mentality orientated at complaining and blaming others and situations around us. However, this self-protective habit can cloud your ability to rationally consider whether there are other causal reasons behind such ordeals. Sometimes, when you discover what lies behind a situation, it can reveal an unexpected, even shocking and humbling, truth. A case in point is the following story about an ethical doctor.
One day, while on his day off, a doctor received an emergency call requesting his assistance with an urgent surgery. He immediately set aside his plans and hurried to the hospital. Just as he approached the operating room, the patient’s father angrily shouted: “Why did you take so long? Don’t you know my son’s life is in danger? How can you be so irresponsible?” Calmly, the doctor replied: “I’m very sorry. I came as quickly as I could. Please, try to stay calm.”
The father retorted: “Calm? If it were your son in there, would you be calm? How would you feel if your son died?” With great patience, the doctor replied: “I would remember a line from the Bible: ‘From dust we come, to dust we shall return.’ Please, pray for your son.” But the father, still furious, growled: “Only someone indifferent to life and death would say something like that.”
In the end, the surgery was a success. As he left, the doctor beamed and said: “Thank goodness! Your son is going to be fine. I must leave now, but the nurses will assist you with any questions.” With that, he quickly departed.
The doctor’s son passed away the day before
Still resentful, the man complained to a nurse: “How arrogant! He couldn’t even spare a few minutes to tell me about my son’s condition?” The nurse, with tears in her eyes, said: “Sir, his own son passed away in a car accident yesterday. When we called him, he was on his way to the funeral. He has just saved your son’s life and is now rushing back to his son’s funeral.”
Shocked to the core, the father stood there, speechless.
We rarely know what others are going through or the struggles they may be facing. All we see is the surface. Each person has their own story with its own sweetness, bitterness, joys, and sorrows — which is known only to them. Looking back on the storms and challenges we have faced, shouldn’t we strive to show others the same empathy and understanding?
In cases where we see a homeless person setting aside their dignity to beg, we know nothing of what they have endured. Even when a couple, once deeply in love, ends up filing for divorce, we can’t fathom the efforts they may have made to save their relationship. When a young person ends their life, we have no way of understanding the misery they must have endured.
When people are misled by the media into labeling Hong Kong protesters as rioters, do we consider the determination and courage behind these young people’s stand against oppression? Witnessing Falun Gong practitioners handing out flyers in all kinds of weather despite the pressure and threat of being persecuted, do we realize the untold suffering they endure? The world is filled with grievances and injustices that we often lack the wisdom to fully understand. All we can do is be wise and refrain from passing ill-informed quick judgments that add to other people’s pain.
Let us open our eyes to discern truth from falsehood, to look beyond mere appearances. Let us anchor our actions and words in principles of integrity, becoming aware and rational individuals. Above all, let us keep a genuinely compassionate and kind heart to care for and accept those around us, seeing beyond the surface to the shared humanity within.
Translated by Katy Liu, edited by Maria
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