You remember this prophet of God in the Old Testament, he was riding his donkey and all of a sudden, his donkey turns aside and get out of the road, and again back on track, the donkey presses Balaam’s foot against the wall. Everytime, Balaam strikes his donkey. God opens the mouth of the donkey and this is what it says, “… Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it in my habit to treat you this way?” (Numbers 22:30) You know, sometimes you just need to make a “mistake” or be misinterpreted to insult someone, even though you never meant it. What is a complete nonsense to me is that people (and I included) sometimes act like Balaam.

You see, I believe I’ve always been a good “donkey” at university. Not that I am at everybody’s service, but you understand. I’ve always had good and peaceful relationships with everybody and people call me or email me when they need some comfort about some assignments, deadlines, presentations, or just when their minds blow up. I am not the perfect donkey to be sure, but I am the kind to promote peace. But the first time I sound inconsiderate, Tim says quite seriously and very upset that I insulted him. As Balaam with his donkey, hitting it for acting weird for the first time in his lifetime. Instead of being surprised and take a step back and ask me what I meant and why I sounded so inconsiderate, Tim curses me.

And just as the donkey, I am the one who’s really been insulted by the way I am treated. But you know what? I seek to show grace and try to understand why Tim treats me that way, again I try to put the pieces back in place to help rebuild the bridge. No matter the amount of work I’ll have to do. I feel we are sometimes very childish in our attitudes toward each other.