Judging Others? Or Ourselves?
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Authors
Alexander, Andy, S.J.
Waldron, Maureen McCann
Issue Date
2000-01-01
Volume
Issue
Type
Text
Language
en_US
Keywords
Ordinary Time
Alternative Title
Abstract
Text from the first five paragraphs of "Judging Others? Or Ourselves"|We often see things very clearly. We can look at the famous illusion and we know, we insist - we can argue clearly - that we see a young woman. |Or an old one. |The truth is that we don't always see the whole picture. We think our vision is clear. We can unmistakably spot the flaws in other people. We can see that their behavior is sinful, their parenting styles awful or their faith life is tepid. We know that these people are not having to work as hard as we did to get some of the same benefits.|But we don't always see the other side of the picture. We might not focus on the struggles in other people's lives. We don't appreciate the suffering that so many live with and the family situations that are agonizing for them. It can be too easy for us to simply dismiss people by what we see - and move on with a feeling of satisfaction, grateful that our lives are better than theirs.|If asked why we judge others so harshly, our protests ring loudly:|"I'm not judging them, just observing what I see!"|"Didn't Jesus want us to do that?"|"Aren't we supposed to be troubled by sinful things other people do?"|"If I notice something wrong in someone's behavior, shouldn't I be disturbed by it?"|To really see the whole picture for what it is, we have to remember the words of Jesus: We have to remove the huge plank of wood from our own eyes before we can point out the splinter in someone else's eye. There is an inconsistency in each of our hearts, being blind to the fact that we are unreliable sinners while at the same time we are critical of someone else for being an unreliable sinner.
Description
Citation
Publisher
Creighton University, Online Ministries
License
Feel Free to "cut and paste" any of these texts for Parish Bulletinss or Worship Aids. Simpy add this reference: "Taken from Creighton University's Online Ministries web site: www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/online.html. Used with Permission."