This morning’s Gospel reading is a tough one. At least for me.
“Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.”
Essentially, it’s a Gospel warning that what goes around comes around and we would be well advised to follow the writer’s advice.
But judging others is easy. It’s fun to deflect the attention from ourselves and our own inadequacies and point out the foibles of others. It’s nice to get people to focus on the looks, sounds, and smells around us, so no one notices the rot coming from within. Most of us, including me, would rather people not notice how far behind I am, how spiritually starved I am, how disconnected I sometimes feel – and instead point out the ills around us, the dumb things other people say, the inarticulate nature of those we do not agree with, and the crazy things that people who do not agree with us proclaim.
Stop judging.
God give us the strength to try.