Today I learned....

As Sophia of the Golden Girls says...."Picture this"....me walking around with this huge 2 X 4 sticking out of my eye.  That's funny in itself.  The really funny part is that here I am with this wacko-humongous board sticking out of my eyeball and I go up to another fellow human being and tell her she has a tiny little sliver in the corner of her eye and I will attempt to remove it......when I SHOULD be attempting to remove that 2 X 4 from my own eye!  That was Jesus's story...I can't take credit for it.  It talks about judging others in Matthew chapter 7.  Or as my father always used to say..."Don't worry about the other guy!"  In other words, fix yourself up before trying to fix the other person.  Don't judge others!

I don't think many of us will forget Pastor Seth's sermon illustration today in this regard.

While he had this long wooden pole hanging from his eyeball, he went up to his wife, Pastor Stacia, and attempted to get an itsy-bitsy-tiny-little speck from her eye.  It was all quite hilarious, in fact.

I think we all got the message....well, I got the message and that was the most important thing.

How many times have I looked at someone else and made a judgement call on them.  Hmmmm....I've lost count!

How many times have I made presumptions...wrongly.....about someone else.  Lost count on that one too!

How many times have I made very subtle comments about another...hoping that no one would notice my judgemental attitude.  Who am I kidding anyway??? 

Surely not God.

We talked about this after church as we sat around and drank coffee.  There are times when we assume we know what is best for another person, or group of people and we even force those thoughts and ideas on others without first thinking of their cultural heritage and how they may feel.

I confess, I have made terrible judgement calls in my lifetime.  I ask for forgiveness for those times.

We also talked about being in relationship with others.  When we know someone well, we find we can make more helpful comments as opposed to judging negatively, because we know the whole person and they trust us and our opinions.

Another thing I learned today is that it is really difficult to judge someone when I am in a worshipful attitude.  And being in a worshipful attitude doesn't only happen in church.....no!  It can happen each moment we exist when we are in constant communion and relationship with God!  It takes practice though.  I want to practice that way of living.  I need that way of living.

Here are a few pictures of some hoar frost on a prairie landscape I took on the way home from Saskatoon the other day. You can judge them if you wish....:)