On Judging

Story #1:

My sister lives in a very small town. Everyone knows everyone else. That can definitely be a good thing and a bad thing, as I'm sure you can imagine. Everyone knows who to call when they need help (which is, very often, my sister) and everyone knows who to avoid...

Enter Marie (not her real name). Marie is a self-professed jack-Mormon. (Jack-Mormon is a nickname some people use to describe someone of my faith who doesn't usually go to church and doesn't necessarily abide by the rules of the church.) Marie drinks, she used to smoke but finally kicked the habit, she loves to cuss, and because of some of these reasons, some members of the community avoid her.

And my sister said she is one of the kindest, most selfless, giving people she has ever met. My sister's husband recently had an accident at work that required surgery. Some friends and family called to see how he was doing, and would end the phone calls with, "Well, if there's anything I can do..." (These platitudes felt hollow to my sister.) Marie, however, said, "I will take your kids while your husband is in surgery and I will be making you dinner too." She gave my sister the true support and friendship she needed at a difficult time.

Marie always does things like this. She is currently doing a fundraiser, hoping to raise a thousand dollars to donate to a local organization that gives monetary and medical aid to local residents in need.

I want to be more like Marie. It's really sad that people are unwilling to get to know her because of their discomfort since she is different from them.


Story #2

We have a lovely family who lives in our neighborhood. The husband has a series of ailments which render him severely disabled. He is a great man. On good days, he can walk down the street and back. On bad days, he can't leave his bed. He comes to church when he can. He spends as much time with his children as he can. He can't do much else.

The wife runs the household. She does virtually everything, from raising their five children, to running the in-home business, to cooking and cleaning and chauffering everyone around. She is also going to school to earn her degree so she can get a job doing something she loves. She and her husband never complain, even when things are really rough. I have nothing but praise and love for this family. They are doing the very best they can with the circumstances they have been given.

Two days ago, this dear, sweet family received a two page letter in the mail. This anonymous letter told told them that their yard is a disgrace to the neighborhood. It said that they shouldn't have built a house there if they weren't going to keep the yard up. It said that lots of people have health problems, and they are still able to have nice yards. Then it got personal, calling them "users" (because some members of the church did some yard work last year and they didn't "keep it up") and that they are lazy and bad examples to their children. It ended by calling them "the worm in the apple that needs to be cut out" of the neighborhood.

My heart bleeds for this family. Someone just added insult to injury. What happened to "love thy neighbor"? Why do people feel the need to judge, and to spew forth ugliness in the world? What makes any one of us any better than anyone else?

Nothing. We are all equal in God's eyes.

Please, please don't judge others. We never know their circumstances. Even if we think we do, we don't.

(P.S. Their yard is just fine. I would move next door to them in a heartbeat, and I see nothing wrong with their yard at all.)