Meditations from Zion

Matthew 7:3
Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

My daughter has picked up this phrase from friends at school. It’s said lightheartedly, but it’s always said when someone doesn’t do what she asks. It’s drawing attention to an action (or lack thereof) that is not lining up with her expectation or request. I’m still working on a comeback.

In the end, this pointing out is just another way of adding fuel to a flame. I think we are all saying this in our hearts when we have made a judgment against others. One way to catch these judgments is whenever we use the words of extreme generalizations like “never” or “always.” (Example: my husband “never” compliments me. Today, my husband does not compliment me when I went to extra effort to look nice: See how you are… you “never” compliment me.) It’s like we are building up the evidence to “make our case” … but to what end?

Wouldn’t it be lovely if, instead, we could use the same phrase when it’s a good thing: oh, he remembered to take out the trash, oh, she remembered my birthday, oh, he went the extra mile to help me, and so on. How powerful it could be to build the evidence for good.

Today, help me “see” how others really are… let me find the moments that are edifying and uplifting and to tell them so. “See how you are”… and thank you for being you in my life.