Judgment--100 Words

Judgment.

There’s good judgment. There’s bad judgment.

There’s sitting in judgment.

You can be judged. And, you can judge others.

How do we learn to have good judgment? How do we know what to do and not to do? What’s safe? What should be left alone? What helps? Hurts? What’s right?

Bob Packwood said, “Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment.”

I don’t think I agree with Bob. I don’t need to experience everything to know that it is bad. Some stuff is just commonsense.

Then again, it seems we’ve lost all commonsense in our world today.

Patience--100 Words

Lorna, a Facebook friend, sent the following quote:

“The distance between mercy and judgment is patience.”

I’ve read that statement several times since receiving it. What do I make of it?

At times, I have tons of patience. Nothing seems to rattle me. Mercy flows in abundance.

Then, I don’t have any patience. Especially true when I am tired, patience flees. Or hides. Or is ignored.

During those times, I become judgmental. Way too often, too fast, too much.

Some say patience is a virtue. That might be another topic for another day. Obviously, I too seldom have that virtue.

Withholding Judgment

Are you as guilty as I am about jumping to conclusions? I see a homeless person, and at times, I think, "What a bum. If he would just get a job!" Or, if I see someone speeding down the highway, I am quick to pass judgment, hoping they get a ticket over the next hill. Or, I see a mother being distant to her children in the park, and I can often think, "What a bad parent!"

Little may I know that the homeless person was living paycheck to paycheck, and lost his/her job just last week when the employer was found guilty of defrauding the government.

Little may I know that the person speeding is on the way to the hospital after hearing of their child being involved in a car accident.

Or, little may I know that the distant mother with her children may have just been told by her husband that he is leaving.

We are too quick to rush to judgment. More precisely, I am too quick to rush to judgment.

Case in point, I've added a drawing here. My wife, who teaches third grade, sent it to me. It was not from one of her students. But, as we all do, she sent it to me after someone sent it to her. Look carefully at the picture. What do you see?



Okay, what was your first thought? Be honest!

You know what you are really seeing? The mommy works at The Home Depot. She works in the shovel department and people are wanting to buy shovels!

Not quite what we saw to begin with, is it?

Today, be mindful not to judge those around you. God only knows how we are being judged by those who look at us from a distance!