Vengeance is mine
I got rid of my dog today.
I don’t want to get into the whole story in this post (you can read it here and here), but suffice it to say it had to do with my neighbour.
What I would like to discuss, however, is my reaction.
My first response was one of frustration. I was frustrated that my neighbour gets the benefit of the doubt, and I don’t. I was frustrated Animal Control accepted my neighbour’s exaggerations as fact. I was frustrated I had to pay $100.
I stewed about the issue all day. As such, it didn’t take long for me to consider ways to deal with my neighbour. I considered:
- Confronting him and telling him we got rid of Apollo
- Confronting him and telling him we had Apollo euthanized
- Reporting his cigarette smoke coming in our window
- Completely removing the hedge between our houses
- Not giving him cookies for Christmas anymore
- Stealing a “for sale” sign from someone else’s yard and putting it in his
As the day went on, my thoughts turned to my post-conference resolution to be less judgemental, less selfish, more grateful and more patient. I realized none of the above considerations were going to help me be successful in my resolution.
Before long, I found myself considering Sunday’s gospel doctrine lesson and one specific scripture.
“Behold what the scripture says?¢‚Ǩ‚Äùman shall not smite, neither shall he judge; for judgment is mine, saith the Lord, and vengeance is mine also, and I will repay” (Mormon 8:20)
I slowly realized that it wasn’t up to me to do anything in this situation, even if there is an injustice.
What benefit would there be to my trying to exact vengeance or to confront my neighbour? Wouldn’t the better path be for me to try nurturing what relationship my neighbour and I have?
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