Judge Not

" Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck our of your own eye', when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." [Matthew 7: 3].

A child is criticized for the shape of her nose; for her last name. She is taunted for being an "A" student. Her grandfather is successful and so she is "blamed" for being rich. That was me as a child. After awhile, I hid in my room and spent more time than necessary on my homework. It was not fun to go out and play any longer.

Years later, I went to graduate school. One afternoon, classes had gotten out early and I was home alone. There came a knock on the door. I thought it was my neighbor next door, who often came by to have a cup of coffee together before the long hours of studying.

Instead, I was confronted by a stranger with a ski mask and a long knife! I managed to survive but I was beaten pretty badly. And yet my family blamed me for opening the door. For opening the door! And when I said that I wanted to come home for awhile, to heal and to reassess, they called me a failure.

My name was shielded from the press because of the nature of the crime and because I was a young female. I had to sneak around the city hospital to get medical care, lie about my name and the reason for my visit. I was extremely grateful for the anonymity. But I could not shake the feeling that I was being shielded because the assumption was that I had done something wrong!

I learned, the hard way, what it is to be judged for something that I did not do.

There is an awful lot of judgment going around these days, isn't there? It is becoming an epidemic. Maybe because of the ubiquitous social media, the way that our smart phones have become an extension of our own hands, we have instant data at our finger tips. We make instant judgments. When we really know nothing.

Judging others has become an ugly parlor game. It is beyond charades, it is beyond Trivial Pursuit. It is voyeuristic, it is a viral vendetta.

This reading from Matthew absolutely does not forbid justice. We can and must have our legal system, our judges and juries. We human beings cannot get away with, literally murder, and beg off by saying, "Judge not!" This is a misuse of the Word.

I was subject to some harsh criticism and at a very young age. I have learned to spend my time, not indulging in judging others, but making sure that I deepen my relationship with God and that I try every day to emulate the love and gentleness of Jesus. I may stumble and fall in those areas, but my heart is pure and eager to obey God.

St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4: 3: "I care very little if I am judged by you. . . . I do not even judge myself. It is the Lord who judges me."  From this, I have learned that I may form my opinion, but I let the secular judges and juries opine on what we humans are capable of. And in the end, I let God be the Final Judge.

St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 4 goes on to say, " Wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts."

God, you know everything that is in my heart! As I learn to perfect my soul in you, teach me not to judge others for the process of their own Faith Walk.

(c) the Spiritual Devotional 2011. All Rights Reserved.