So, yeah, what happens to our minds sometimes? Our hearts? The conflicts of interest. The fighting, the interacting between what we want to be the truth and what actually is the truth. The Bible displays it as an interaction between flesh and spirit.
Let's just say that someone you have known for many years on a professional, respectable level doesn't show up at work one day. Highly unusual because this person is a Type A, responsible, anal sort of guy. A guy who went to medical school in his distant past and actually practiced for quite some time in a medical clinic. He is looked up to, valued for his opinions and education, and does things quite by the book. Quite simply, he is not at work one day. So, the rumors begin....he's dead, he's passed out, he's fled the country, he's been kidnapped. No, actually, he's in jail you find out. Really? Huh. Wow. Never would have thought it. And for what? Drum roll, please: Sodomy. Child Abuse. Sexual Abuse. 87 counts of it. And thus begins the conflicts in my heart and head.
I believe that we are capable of anything as human beings. Humans are easily the target of other human beings hatred, abuse, comments, and discord. People die at the barrel of a gun as a result of some other human flesh pulling the trigger. People's faces have been slapped by others. Jokes and giggles and making fun of have all happened at the hands of me. You. All of us. But sodomy? Sexual abuse? Child abuse? True or not true, I don't know.
Yeah. It can happen. Gasp! None of us is above another. Not one of us is above the law, or right or wrong, or acceptable or unacceptable. It can happen to any of us on any given day of the week. Our humanness does show through sometimes. Our frailties do come to light many times in our lives.
So before we say "Never, I," we'd better take a second, or even a third, look in the mirror. Look at the zits, the pocks, the wrinkles, the age spots. They are there for a reason. We have scratches and gouges in our lives because we are human. Because we are flesh and blood. We were born, we age, we contort, we move through life, and we die. Each path is different -- but very much the same.
I refuse to pass judgment. Another lesson of life is being learned. And this one not from a textbook.
9 comments:
Heart-wrenching! When someone we know and believe in has all too human moments. I am so glad you wrote this with your heart on your sleeve... 'cause that is where my heart is when it comes to the frailty of our human condition. I would like to say that I have learned to "never say never"... and then time after time... something comes up from my subconscious to my conscious and says "hey there!" and I am reminded all over again... there but for grace go I...
However wrong it may be, it is easy to judge a stranger or a statistic. But when you actually know the accused and have some kind of personal relationship with him, everything is different. You have loyalty towards him and a level of possession as if you own a part of him. You pray for the best and put aside the worst in hopes it can all be put back to normal.
I'm glad you are refusing to pass judgment. It's the healthiest thing to do. I'm very impressed considering how easy it is in our society to condemn someone on a mere accusation.
I think it was Oscar Wilde who said that he could not imagine himself incapable of doing any crime. I like this idea; we are all potentially able to do evil. with that admission, we can better keep ourselves in check.
I commend you for not passing judgment. There is an old statement that says "There but for the Grace of God go I." I try to remind myself of that (and of my own flaws and potential criminal indictments) in my own more judgmental moments.
I hear ya, but raping a child certainly warrants a bit of judgment.
Really great post.
We all need to take a second look, I suppose. It's so easy to judge someone from just walking by them in a hallway and seeing what they're wearing, how they walk, what they're talking about. It's completely unfair, and yet we all do it. And people do it to us. It's one of those cultural habits that we all need to take a second and look at it.
I struggle with judgment any time the situation includes victimizing a child. I know four people who were irretrievably damaged by monsters who abused them in horrific fashion—and three of those were their fathers. It is only people like these men who inspire thoughts of vengeance in me. They must be stopped.
I have never understood why humans are thought to be so much better than other animals, no other animal is capable of the cruelty that humans are, to their own species and others.
You can never completely know another person.
Yes, time and experience have taught me that there is no need to pass judgement on others. No one knows all the details or circumstances. Even when people sometimes act in animalistic ways, they are still humans.
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