The log and the speck

After Matthew 7:1-6 

You see it; it’s obvious,

the speech in his eye,

the flaw in his character,

the behavior so objectionable,

the preference so distasteful,

the affinity so obnoxious,

the comment so ignorant,

the belief so ridiculous,

the choice so misguided,

the heresy so malignant,

the lie so obvious,

the politics so deplorable.

So much to criticize,

and so little time.

 

But that speck, that mite,

is insignificant compared

to the attitude that judges

first and asks questions

later, that log of prejudice

that comes from the unjustified

sense of superiority, that log

that blinds your eyes

and closes your heart.

 

Photograph by Alex Kadrow via Unsplash. Used with permission.

 

A simple question

After Matthew 7:1-6 

A simple question, really,

a question of judgment,

specifically, our own. It is

not understanding or

discernment we’re talking

about here, but something

harder, something carrying

more potential damage,

implying a combination

of suspicion, belief, 

accusation, determination,

sentence, and execution,

everything rolled up

together into a unit

of destruction. For those

of us prone to this,

i.e. all of us, it becomes

the standard by which

we, too, will be measured.

Through some strange quirk,

the standard by which we

judge becomes the standard

by which we are judged. It’s

no wonder that ostriches stick

their heads in the ground.

 

Photograph by Bill Oxford via Unsplash. Used with permission.