Doing the Best that We Can

     There is a scene in "Men in Black" where Agent "K" says something quite profound. He says, "Fifteen hundred years ago, everyone 'knew' the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everyone 'knew' the Earth was flat. And fifteen minutes ago you 'knew' that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll 'know' tomorrow." Were those people in the past correct in what they "knew"? Current knowledge says "No." But they were doing the best they could with what they knew and had at the time. They weren't any more right than physicians 1500 years ago still revering Galen's texts as the definitive authority on medicine, but it was the best information that they had until someone proved their "knowledge" wrong.
     I am not the same person today that I was when I was younger. There were things that I "knew" were right at that point in time, and I acted and spoke based on what I "knew" was right. The older I get, the more I realize that's all you can really ever ask of someone, that they do what they know is right, and that they do their best. Someone can only really act on what they "know" to be the truth, whether it corresponds to reality or not.
     I can think of many times when I acted based on what I thought to be right, or even just innocent. Yet when I remember those incidents now, an involuntary shudder passes through me that I did or said those things. I did not know that I was actually hurting or harming people at the time, but I was doing my best to act on what I "knew" to be right. The person I am now wouldn't do those things, but this person "knows" that those things done before were harmful to himself or to others. This person too is doing the best he can at doing the right thing even if it is at times the opposite of what the person I was before "knew" it to be.
     We all can only do our best based on what we "know" to be right. But what we "know" to be right can be and often is challenged by new information, new understanding, and new perspectives. We are all on a journey during our lives, and we are all progressing along that journey at our own paces, and sometimes along that journey, we make different stops from one another, and pass through different villages and towns from one another. We meet different people, and experience different things. Yet still, we continue on the path we're taking, and where we progress to is not where we came from, nor should it be.
     The Eleventh Doctor from Doctor Who said right before his regeneration, "We all change, when you think about it. We're all different people; all through our lives, and that's okay. That's good. You've gotta keep moving, so long as you remember all the people that you used to be."
     When you look back at who you were, when I look back at who I am, when we look at where someone else is right now, we all must keep in mind that that person then and now is doing the best they can with what they "know," just like you and I did and still do. It may be frustrating, painful, and traumatic to observe, but still, that's all you can ask of them to do. And knowing this, we can forgive them and realize that their journey isn't done yet either.