"There are many things that can only be seen through eyes that have cried"

This is a quote from Oscar Romero, an archbishop of the Catholic church.

The quote was repeated on a TV show I watched this morning concerning the injustices blacks have suffered. In other words, if you haven't suffered like they have, you cannot understand.

It got me to thinking though that some unfortunate circumstances are brought on by the choices we make and the results are natural.

I have a very dear working buddy, let's call her "Joyce". She has a real penchant for "bad boys". The more tattoos, caps turned backwards, arrests, etc.....the better. She knows it is a weakness and she has asked me what is wrong with her.

Recently, she met a newly-released convict that she thought was cute. She started seeing him and he even moved in with her.

While she was at work one night, the convict got angry with her little five year-old boy and beat him up. The convict then fled. "Joyce" didn't discover the beating until she got home. The convict (her babysitter) was gone, leaving her two boys at home alone. "Joyce" found the bruised little boy and took him to the Emergency Room. Social Services, police....all got involved. The convict was later captured and arrested. They said, since he was on probation, he could get fifteen years for what he did to that little boy.

Anyway, "Joyce" was devastated. But her tears meant little to me. She had effectively made the choice to leave her little boy with a pit bull and the pit bull bit him. Yes, the pit bull should be put down, but the real fault belonged to the mom, who was supposed to look out for her little boy.

The choices we make in life can have devastating consequences. Not just for us, but also for the people we love.