Devotion

I am not the judge of you!

By Deborah Schoenfelder

“The rich and the poor have a common bond, The LORD is the maker of them all.” (Proverbs 22:2)

“For there is no partiality with God.” (Romans 2:11)

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man,there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

“But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” (1 John 2:11)

My daughter Sarah, who lives on the west coast, had her cell phone stolen, and she called me distraught about the theft. She had dozens and dozens of photos of her twin daughters on her phone. Her personal information stored on the phone made her feel vulnerable, and the worst part was that it was taken from a place where she meets regularly with others for an exercise class. Hearing my voice, she burst into tears needing solace (what is there about a parent’s voice that can trigger tears, no matter what our age?).

By means of technology, Sarah and I were able to track where her phone was, and the police helped her eventually recover her phone. It wasn’t only the police that helped Sarah. Once the phone was tossed onto the ground a few miles from where the theft took place, a young man who was out on his skateboard found it and called the number on the screen that pleaded the “finder” to do so; it was my home number here in Iowa City.

Having shared the above, I want to set up the following scenario: “A young woman loses her cell phone. Two people are involved in this situation: One, a fellow exerciser at a local health club; and the other a young skateboarder. Who would you predict stole the phone, and who went to great effort to see that the phone was returned to its rightful owner?”

I am embarrassed to say that if given this scenario, I would most likely think the young man on the skateboard was the offender, and the person at the health club was the rescuer. WRONG! It was of course just the opposite, and a great reminder for me to take pause. First to say a prayer of thanks for the kind young man who helped Sarah, and second to confess my prejudicial thinking and utter a promise to once again work on my judgmental thoughts and ways.

Does any of this way of thinking sound familiar to you? It seems that it is prudent to do our best to be safe when we are out and about, and sometimes that means making judgements about who might or might not be trustworthy. But it does not give me license to judge or even condemn others who think or act differently than I do. Most of the time, I truly believe, looking or acting differently than me means just that: We are different, period, end of sentence. And no judgement about whether someone is good, bad, better, or worse need take place. Maybe even a prayer that includes gratitude that we are not all alike might be the next step. Praise God for our differences!

As with many hymns “In Christ there is no East or West”, is timeless, attesting to our similarities that outweigh our differences:

In Christ there is no East or West,
In Him no South or North;
But one great fellowship of love
Throughout the whole wide earth.

In Him shall true hearts everywhere
Their high communion find;
His service is the golden cord,
Close binding humankind.

Join hands, then, members of the faith,
Whatever your race may be!
Who serves my Father as His child
Is surely kin to me.

In Christ now meet both East and West,
In Him meet North and South;
All Christly souls are one in Him
Throughout the whole wide earth.

(Music: Alexander R. Reinagle, 1836; Words: William A. Dunkerley, 1908)

Incidents like the one I described about the stolen phone remind me I am never too old to learn and to change my ways. In particular, I’m going to continue working on my thoughts that are based in nothing more than outward appearances. As I’ve often said, I’m a work in progress and with God by my side, I can do this!

Prayer: Gracious God of love and acceptance, thank you for being my steadfast friend and guide. I find myself slipping into ways of thinking that can put hurtful labels on others. I need to stop that and ask what you want of me in my daily doing and thinking, that will put me back on course in a life that reflects your unconditional grace and mercy. Praise God from whom all blessings flow! AMEN.