Adverse Reactions

Photo by Jon Sachs

          In humans, contact with poison ivy often tricks our immune system into thinking our own skin cells are foreign, a reaction that results in an itchy, blistering rash. However, the plant has no ill effects on most wild or domesticated animals. Because of their immunity, several businesses have sprung up that employ goats for clearing such unwanted vegetation. Goats will readily eat poison ivy, including the seeds; none of the seeds are viable after being ground and digested. Although they don't consume the roots, goats used over an extended period will starve the plant of the energy it needs to survive. The added benefit of this goat-based form of brush control is that it avoids the use of herbicides. 

          Tolerance suggests allowing people to pursue their own understanding of truth within the boundaries of the common good ('do no harm'). The medical definition can add a spiritual lens to look through, seeing tolerance as the ability to endure exposure without an adverse reaction. Even when we don't react outwardly, we often react inwardly. Simply gritting our teeth while dealing with people who annoy us can twist us up inside like a tightly wound spring. Rather than stew in frustration, we can drop our agenda and be curious. Imagine what it would be like inside the mind and body of this person. What fears might be motivating them? Instead of judging them harshly, could we make a more charitable assumption based on their past or present suffering? The poet Robert W. Service wrote, "Be master of your petty annoyances and conserve your energies for the big, worthwhile things. It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out - it's the grain of sand in your shoe."

For more information on tolerance, see this post.