The Unknown Factor

I think this is an outstanding post from the Wittenberg Gate:

The Unknown Factor

The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor comes and examines him.
Proverbs 18:17

There is an episode of the BBC production of James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small in which veterinarian James is bewildered by a client who refuses to let him put down his dying and suffering dog. When he expresses his bewilderment to his wife, Mrs. Herriot replies, (I'm paraphrasing.), "There must be an unknown factor. Don't you find that when someone behaves in a way that is unexplainable, there is an unknown factor?" In this case there was an unknown factor. The man's wife was ready to leave him, but when she discovered the dog was ill, she decided to postpone her leaving until he died. The husband's behavior seemed irrational until the unknown factor was discovered.

Mrs. Herriot's wisdom was that of Proverbs 18:17. Life is full of unknown factors and evaluating our neighbors can at times be a tricky business. Before we judge too harshly we need to remember that there is almost always another side to a story--almost always at least one unknown factor.

Posted by Dory on February 27, 2005 at 07:37 PM

We Christians are forgiven so much. We should be the most forgiving people on earth. We should also be slow to judge others. Our family often discusses the oddities of others and why people act the way they do. I always remind my kids that we just cannot always know what might be going on in someone's life, behind closed doors, to use an old saying. I always encourage them (and myself) to give people the benefit of the doubt. We almost never have all the information we need to make a perfect judgment.

---Katie