believeth all things

I have wondered about this phrase, because obviously we shouldn’t believe things that aren’t true. So I’ve come to think that perhaps , in the context of being loving, it means that we are open to believing all things. It reminds me of an incident several years ago when a husband announced at breakfast that he would be mowing the lawn that afternoon. After breakfast the wife went out to clean up after the dog and among the normal piles of poop were several fresh, loose mounds. She cleaned everything up and later mentioned them to her husband, explaining, “I think the dog may have diarrhea.” The husband, not particularly fond of the dog or his wife’s observations, immediately dismissed her assessment and stormed off to the back yard to see for himself. Naturally, there was nothing for him to see, since she had cleaned it all up. But still not willing to concede the point, he insisted the dog did NOT have diarrhea, the soft piles she had seen were normal piles that had been rained on, his tone of voice suggesting that any fool would know that. The wife was puzzled by his reluctance to even entertain the possibility that her observations might have merit. A charitable person, even if he did not agree with her, would have remained open to the possibility she could be right, and would have responded in a very different way. He would have asked for more information or offered another possibility, “Could the rain have changed the dog poop into mushy piles?” To which she could have explained, “No, I don’t think so; I’ve never seen rain do that before.” Then he could have said something like, “Well, let’s keep an eye on it and see how the dog does the next few days.” A charitable person is always open enough to consider another’s point of view. He knows it shows a measure of respect for others and a type of “insurance” for himself, for being adamant in a position can be very embarrassing if you are proven to be wrong.