You May Be Mistaken…

We often hear the trite expression that there are always two sides to a subject. And one thing that makes quarrels and misunderstandings and differences so difficult to settle is that so often there is some right and some wrong on both sides.

A person who is mostly right is so close to himself that he could fail to see that he might also in some degree be wrong. And seldom is a man so wrong that he cannot convince himself that he is at least partly right. The most flagrant offender can always rationalize, and can always go back to some supposed previous provocation and come up with some kind of case that offers some little comfort to his conscience.

(It is one of the signs and symptoms of our times⎯and perhaps of all others also⎯that men try to absolve themselves from their own sins by blaming others, sometimes going far back to find the supposed cause of their conduct.)

Furthermore, even when we are right in our facts, it is possible to be wrong in attitude, wrong in arrogance, wrong in appearance, wrong in making a false impression possible. And with all of our being human, with all of our being fallible, with all of our being subject to making mistakes⎯parents, teachers, children, the offenders and the offended⎯with all of our being opinionated, and with all of our seeming to be so sure of our own side of a subject, there comes to mind an appeal that Cromwell sent to his opponents before the battle of Dunbar⎯an appeal which may well give all of us at least momentary pause:

“I beseech you…think it possible that you may be mistaken.” All men in all misunderstandings (and in many other matters) should consider seriously, sincerely, whether or not they might be mistaken.

There are some eternal truths with which there is no compromise, but there are also shaded areas of opinion and preference, in which a man might be wrong. And as to both the offenders and the offended: It is to the advantage of each and all of us to do what we can to clear up misunderstandings, to clear up the clouded atmosphere in every heart and home, and in public and private places, and to make all our relationships with other men open and honest, and fair and forthright⎯even if we have to take the first step⎯even if we have to go half-way⎯or maybe a little more. “I beseech you…think it possible that you may be mistaken” in judging other men⎯and in judging many matters.