As I listened to the sad news report about a cop who accidentally shot and killed a fellow officer while in training, I imagined the grief and regret that officer must be feeling. For weeks and months to come, he will be tortured with thoughts of how he could have done things just a little differently; if he had, then it would have turned out as any other day. Uneventful.
Moments, even seconds, can have a huge impact on how things pan out. The Butterfly Effect. Did you ever wish you'd gotten somewhere a moment sooner? Or a moment later? Even now, 44 years after I first saw the Franco Zeffirelli production of Romeo & Juliet, I still wish that friar had moved a little faster carrying the mail to Mantua, or that Romeo had moved a little slower rushing back to Verona!
Why couldn't the friar have delivered the mail using Romeo's swift steed? And why couldn't Romeo haved gone to the Chemist's...and then on to the tomb where a deeply-sleeping-yet-appearing-dead Juliet lay in wait....on the friar's pokey old mule instead?
This sequence of events led to one of the saddest endings in movie history. Even though I know it's just a movie, I still wish it had turned out differently. I often wish the same in the events of my own life, and I am certain that the cop is torturing himself with that same thought. If only. If only!
It's normal to feel wistful, even regretful, over how things turn out. It takes time & maturity to see that things often happen for a reason. The Montagues & Capulets finally buried their lifelong feud after losing their children, Romeo and Juliet, so needlessly. What good will come of the tragedy in this young cop's life? Only time will tell, but I'm sure praying for him.
No comments:
Post a Comment