Many years ago I received a distinct lesson on how easy it is to judge the actions of others, without an understanding of what prompted the action in the first place.
The story of that lesson goes like this: A friend had called me up earlier in the week and ask if I would give her a ride to church on Sunday, to which I agreed. However, as I was getting ready to leave for church that Sunday, I completely forgot about giving my friend a ride. That was until I turned the vehicle in the opposite direction. No sooner had I made the right-hand turn I remembered and immediately made a u-turn in her direction.
The lights where I made the right hand turn from was red and, there was a vehicle waiting to turn left at the lights. When I made the u-turn the lights were still in my favour, and I was able to go through the lights. Suddenly, I was overcome by a strong feeling that the person waiting to turn left at the red light may have thought that I made the u-turn to avoid waiting to turn left. With that I looked up into the rear-view mirror, and low and behold, the driver of the vehicle also make a u-turn.
There was no doubt that this lesson was for me, and I believed that I learned it well. Today’s episode proved that there is still room for improvement. Are we prone to make diabolical judgments? A story was related to me today, and in my non-judgemental state, I had a conversation with the storyteller about the actions of the individual the story was about. About an hour later the storyteller who was now prompted by questions and observations from me received the complete story which changed the direction of the plot 360 degrees.
Whoa! Now that the entire plot was changed, I realized that my observations were entirely incorrect. Once more I had passed judgment without having full disclosure. It was reinforcement for me that I need to judge NOT. Even when I have the full picture.
Observation is good – Judgment is NOT. I believe we should allow all mankind to experience life for themselves, and not try to intervene or impose our opinions upon them.
I can make a decision to turn left or right without the need to judge, but with a spirit of discernment that the turn I am making is the right one for me at this moment, based on the information I presently have.
Lesson learned one more time.
The Courageous Friend 