Friday, February 11, 2011

Sled Dogs Down: Mea Cullpa


“We’re going to give you a fair trial, followed by a first-class hanging.”
– Sheriff Cobb (Silverado, 1985).

By now most people in this corridor have already conducted their own little trials about the so-called ‘cull’ of 100ish sled dogs somewhere between Pembertopia and Whistneyland.  Although local reports initially refrained from using names, that modicum of discretion has since – excuse me – gone to the dogs.

I don’t know Bob Fawcett. But I like people who like him, and that gives me pretty good grounds for expecting him to be likable. It’s a bit early in my blogging career to rest an opening point on a cliché, but here goes: When it comes to people I don’t know, I’m a fan of a simple little nugget, “Any friend of X is a friend of mine.”

“AFXFM.”

Let’s note this is not AFXAI (‘any friend of X is always innocent’). Nor is it AFXNMM (‘any friend of X never makes mistakes’). None of my friends are always innocent and all of my friends make mistakes, often. And I’d guess that’s true of you and also true of all of your friends’ friends (and I hope we’re all following the circle in that logic).

All “AFXFM” really means is that although a person may technically be a stranger to me, I will nevertheless begin relating to him or her with a measure of grace and respect similar to the amount I extend to a well-known friend.

Friend. “F” is the operative letter in this awkward acronym. Friend is the crux in this cliché.

A friend snaps us out of ourselves, shattering our own incessant self-regard. A friend wakes us up so that if even for a brief moment, we are free to live outward, for this other. Friendship, at its best and most basic, is an intangible impulse, a spiritual instinct that whispers and sometimes screams: In order to really live we must somehow love others as we love ourselves.

So the little nugget has led us to the mother lode: Let’s treat others as we’d like to be treated ourselves. This is not a new vein, and everyone seems to have mined it at some point or other. But getting the gold into our hot little hands is only half the task. If I’m going to take real stock in this most valuable of commodities then I need to admit the possibility that I have and will again make a mistake, that I am not now nor have I ever been completely innocent.

When I make a mistake, I like to be treated fairly. When I am found guilty, I like to be treated justly. Sure, if I am guilty of a really big mistake then impending justice would be intimidating and even frightening. But enter Golden Rule: If I ever find myself in such a situation then I’d at the very least like to know that justice will be served and not the appetite of an angry mob.



4 comments:

  1. Great points and opinion here Paul ...
    Like you i do not know him ... I can only feel sad that the Dogs.... creations of our Father were taken out the way they were ....It just makes me sad and is my heart of the love of Creations that i say this ....
    Alma

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  2. "We are all full of weakness and errors; let us mutually pardon each other our follies"
    Voltaire

    I don't have to tell you how much I like your writing.....

    Peter

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  3. I agree that the whole issue is somewhat disturbing, not just what happened to the dogs, how it came to light, the people involved and now the reaction of people who are so far from the event, but a passage from John comes to mind.

    ...“Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone ...” John 8:7 (NIV)

    BTW love this blog site, Paul.

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  4. I heard Blackcomb Snowmbiles put down 50 of their Ski-Doos. How come no one writes in the news about that? I shed a tear.
    Nice blog Paul

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