Do you remember in the 1950's when everyone had white sheets?
I sure do. I remember my Mother hanging the sheets on the line. Then she would sprinkle them with water and laboriously stand ironing them all. So much work, but I still fondly remember the wonderful smell and feel of sleeping on those crisp white sheets!
One day a local Pastor was making his rounds, visiting his Parishioners. He visited two neighbouring ladies. He was welcomed first into Mrs. A's home, served tea and fresh cookies. It wasn't long until her conversation was directed to the lady next door. She had nothing nice to say about her new neighbour and to support all of her ugliness she directed the Pastor to her back window where she pointed out to him that her new neighbour didn't even know how to do her laundry properly. "Just look how dingy those sheets of hers are," she said. He couldn't argue with this, because they were in fact pretty dirty looking to him too.
However, since Mrs. B was new to the community, he felt it was his duty to invite her and her family to the Sunday church services, dirty sheets and all.
He was surprised to find the family to be both warm and pleasant. When he ask Mrs. B if she had gotten to know her neighbour yet at all he saw a shadow come across her face. He didn't press this line of conversation and soon stood to leave. As he rose to go he could see clearly out the back window to where the sheets were hanging and was surprised to see that they were spotlessly white! How could that be? He walked right up to the window to look out onto the clothes line and realised that he was able to see there whiteness because he was viewing the sheets through sparkling clean windows.
It wasn't that Mrs. B's sheets were dirty.
It was Mrs. A's windows that were so dirty.
This simple story makes me think about how often I might look through an already dirty lens at times.
I hope that before I make any strong opinions I will remember Jesus words in:
Matthew 7: 1-2
Judge not, lest you be judged. For with the judgement you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured unto you.
It's pretty scary when you think of getting back the same amount of judgement one meters out to others, for sure.
My prayer for today:
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in thy site Oh Lord, My Strength and My Redeemer.
Psalm 19:14
