protect, honor and cherish

.
A friend of mine played a silly prank on me last night, but by the time I found out, I had already freaked him out. He wasn't prepared for how "innocent and polite" I am. Of course, I refuted his observations.

I got to wondering... I was just trying to save my embarrassment and trying to save the prankster from feeling embarrassed by my own embarrassment by not taking exception to his exceptional behavior. It was an act of protecting and honoring the other guy. A very simple act - a very easy act. But it was not expected of me. If I had thought of protecting, honoring and cherishing just myself, it would have been more in line with what the prankster had expected.

So why do we choose just one person in this world to protect, honor and cherish? What if we start hurting each other's innocence? What if we go around disillusioning our neighbors and friends? Do we survive as a society if we don't cherish the fact that we are together in this big world - that we are each of us alone, that we are each of us imperfect, and that we all do seek company and acceptance?