This week, we have another story awaiting your opinion. I am hoping that this time someone will comment (hint, hint!). Is this proper Bitachon, or is it not? It is much more fun as a discussion! As last time, I will express my opinion in the next post.
Molly's Story
The weather was frigid as Molly stepped onto her porch. She braved the freezing winds for just a moment to bring her child to a friend across the street.
Suddenly, Molly noticed a spray of water gushing from her neighbor's garden pipe. The neighbor was away on vacation, and had forgotten to shut off the outdoor water line. The pipe froze and burst, spilling water everywhere.
Molly hurried back inside. She grabbed the phone and dialed Pam, the neighbor on the other side. Hopefully Pam would know how to get in touch with the vacationing neighbors! As the phone began to ring, Molly headed down to the basement to throw in a load of laundry.
When she reached the bottom, Molly found herself standing in several inches of water. She quickly explained the situation to Pam, who helped to contact the neighbor.
Molly's husband rushed home to assist with the cleanup. They managed to salvage their brand new furniture, but the rug was destroyed and several tiles had come up from the floor. The basement had been recently renovated from hurricane damage; everything was brand new.
Poor Molly. Both she and her husband lost half a day's work. Their basement was a mess. They had several hundred dollars worth of damage on their hands, and now had to deal with getting everything fixed up.
Molly's basement before (left) and after (right) the flood. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the area rug was completely ruined. They moved the furniture onto the bed to spare the brand new items from damage.
Molly's Reaction
That night, I sent Molly an email:
I am so sorry you had to go through this. How terribly frustrating!!
Molly replied simply:
Thanks. It's very rough but certainly not the worst thing in the world.
I guess we have to have Bitachon this was just Hashem's will!
What is your opinion?
My dear readers, what do you think? Does Molly have right or wrong Bitachon?
Please, please, someone answer the question!!
She's right!
ReplyDeleteI agree...I think this is an appropriate response. She did do what she could to address the situation, moving furniture out of the way of the flooding, etc., but there was little if anything she could do to save the carpet. She seems to be keeping it in proper perspective and not using bitachon to avoid dealing with the situation, but to accept the situation and realize that there may be some hidden good in it.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Molly responded correctly because the damage could not have occurred if HaShem did not mean it to happen. I especially agree with her comment about it being "not the worst thing in the world" acknowledging that she still had many blessings.
ReplyDeleteThe only part of Molly's response which might have been a little better is the sentence where she said "I guess we have to have Bitachon this was just Hashem's will!" instead of "I'm sure that HaShem meant for this to happen for a good reason"
I agree. This was a situation beyond her control, very appropriate for a Bitachon response. By invoking Bitachon, it also precluded her from criticizing or arguing with her neighbor after the fact. Next year she can tactfully remind the neighbor to close the pipe for the winter.
ReplyDeleteI believe Molly had the right response. Even if it was her neighbor’s fault that the basement got flooded, she did not become passive and instead did everything she could to clean the basement up. I could understand if she went on complaining and even blamed her neighbor for what happened; after all, she and her husband lost half a day’s work. Still, doing that would have not solved anything, so her calmness is really admirable.
ReplyDeleteGail Wallace
Admirable indeed.
DeleteAs an update, I understand that Molly's neighbor did pay for the rug . . .