A Blessing and a Curse - by Pinchas Winston

A Blessing and a Curse

by

Pinchas Winston *

See, I place before you this day a blessing and a curse. The blessing is for listening …. The curse is for not listening ….

[Do you take your beliefs and your philosophy seriously?]

I certainly do, and I seem to function somewhat normally on a day-to-day basis. At least I think I do. I remember once being at the check-in counter of an airport when a man, in line ahead of me, lost his temper at the airline employee behind the counter. Obviously, something had not gone with his reservation, and extremely disappointed, he gave the airline employee a piece of his mind, and loud enough for all of us to share. It was embarrassing for all those who could hear what was happening. If I recall correctly, the man stormed off, seemingly oblivious to what he had done, and who had heard him. The look of anger on his face was scary, even maniacal, and I think we all felt a sigh of relief once he was gone from the area. I, for one, certainly hoped that he would not return until I was long gone.

After checking in rather smoothly, and sitting down by my gate, the events that had just transpired went through my mind. The face of the man was still quite fresh in my mind, and I wondered what he would have done had he seen his own face in a mirror at that time. I recall once catching my own angry face in a mirror, and quite frankly, I scared myself! Then, I tried to imagine what the angry man must be like to work with, but realized that, just because he lost his temper at the airline employee, doesn’t mean that he always loses his temper, and with everyone. There are some people who are completely patient at work with their fellow employees, but monsters at home with their families. Others are just the opposite, so I wondered what people might possibly tell me about this man. Maybe at work he was completely pleasant and dependable. Maybe he had just had a bad day.

At that point, I then considered myself. I wondered about my own snapping points, what it takes for me to lose it, which I have done on too many occasions. [And that, in spite of the fact that I am familiar with the warning that losing one’s temper is like worshiping idols, or that it is bad for memory.] What were we just talking about again?
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* http://www.torah.org/learning/perceptions/5768/reeh.html