dailydatewithgod

Asking a human being to be non-judgmental is like ask a wolf not to be drawn to meat.  It is within us to judge.  It is not a bad thing in and of itself.  It is when we use our judgments against ourselves and others that we get into trouble.  It is when we let those judgments determine our behavior without questioning them first that we experience difficulty.  Judgments, after all, are just thoughts about someone or something.  We also have thoughts about the temperature and the cereal we have for breakfast.  The thoughts do not have any more power  than what actions we take based on them.  Most spiritual teachers over the centuries have tried to lead us to recognize that the judgments we hold towards other people are futile.  The example that Jesus of Nazareth gave in the first century was that if someone with a wooden plank pointing out the splinter in his friends’ eye.  When we look at it that way, we see the absurdity.  Outside of the situation, we recognize that if I had a wooden plank in my eye, I should take care of that before I worry about a splinter in someone else’s eye.  The reality of life is that we all have wooden planks.  Yet, we don’t see them, so we don’t realize that the vision through which we are seeing others is tainted by  the blocked vision we have.  The point being that no matter what insight we have on life, we cannot truly see what is best for anyone else.  We can share our experience of the wooden plank in our eye that might assist our friend with their splinter, but we may not know the best course of action for their splinter removal.  So where does that leave us?  It leaves us to take care of our own plank that only God can remove and not worry about the splinter in our friends’, family, co-workers, spouses eyes.  Maybe they need to be blinded by something today.  If I believe that God is truly the God of all, then when they are ready, God will be God for them too.  My prayer for you today is that you be willing to accept the splinters that you see because you recognize the familiar wooden material that is blocking your vision too.  Make it a great one!  Peace~Colleen