As I watched a motor cyclist getting trapped between a loaded truck and the wall of a bridge, I stood frozen. The truck was so loaded and the road was narrow over the bridge that normally no one ought to cross the bridge when the truck was over the bridge. In spite of that the motor cyclist did not care to wait for half a minute till the truck crossed the bridge for him to to go on! He escaped from being crushed between the truck and the wall of the bridge by a few inches. This high risk situation was created by the motor cyclist.
I pondered over this while driving back after sighting this horrible scene.
We live by our instincts and impressions most of the times. We get most things right by this approach.
However there is another realm of deciding- by discerning. To choose wisely from a few options and making that as a habit of living and relating.
This calls for sense of presence and awareness.
I stopped at a super market to buy some provisions. There was no physical distancing at the counter. I noticed a señor citizen waiting at about five feet away from the counter, but others would go before him. Neither they or the counter lady bothered to invite him forward. I waited behind him. It took fifteen minutes till a kind person noticed him and called him forward. At the end of this ugly and intimidating situation, I asked him the secret of his tolerance. He said, 'My health is my personal matter. I have to behave responsibly rather than stay close in the queue to claim my turn' !
That was an example of discernment. What was at stake was his health and he took adequate caution to be responsible to himself.
Discernment calls for surpassing the thought of immediate gains; it is way of living wisely and choosing circumspectly!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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