Let Us Judge Not

As I read Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural Address this morning, from within the confines of the Lincoln Memorial, I stopped on these words, "but let us judge not, that we be not judged."  This apparently comes from Matthew 7:1, and the words really connected with me. It's been too easy in our politically charged and polarized environment to pass judgement on other human beings.  Lincoln also said, "Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God, and each invokes his aid against the other." How telling in today's times.  I've always leaned very heavily towards being non-judgmental.  Over the last several years, I've been tested in regards to this trait.  I consider today to be a wake up call.  It was a reminder that in my experience, we all have much more in common than we have differences.  Sure, we can find some specific issues, and some of those issues have great chasms between us.  On the other hand, when one digs deeper, I believe that we find that we all share more values than we might otherwise think.  We just need to avoid making assumptions about what others feel.

We're entering the home stretch of a presidential campaign.  Rhetoric will flow on both sides.  It's a shame that we all can't put the rhetoric aside and carry on with a healthy civil discourse.  With that said, I am committing myself to do just that.  I will endeavor to catch myself if I stray from this path. On one hand, I've been pretty good about this.  I have friends who are political polar opposites, and I still consider them to be friends.  Friendship means far more to me than a disagreement over words and perceptions.  The people whom I consider to be friends, I trust their moral compass and therefore words and specific political leanings are just switches on a railroad track.  I plan on arriving at the same destination as my friends.

Let us judge not.  The civil war is a historical moment in and of itself.  To think about what our country went through, less than a century after the American Revolution, must give us pause.  Here we are, over 150 years later, and we've come so far in many ways.  The world has changed from a technologic perspective.  Maybe the immediacy of social media and information is too much for individuals to handle.  Perhaps we react too quickly, respond too soon.  Let us judge not.  We're not dealing with slavery.  We live in what is arguably one of the freest society's in the world.  We take for granted what many would consider to be luxuries.  We argue over and complain about things that have limited certainty.  Let us judge not.

I'm going to look forward to the coming months.  I'm going to focus on being a little less serious, and a lot more curious.  Curiosity is a gift.  Being open to all ideas is something that we as human beings are fortunate to have.  We all come to conclusions at different speeds, and then we're still capable of changing our minds.  There is little certainty in life.  The sun will rise and set, but beyond that, anything can happen.  Let us judge not.