= ..

classify

somehow we gravitate towards marking people
white or black or brown
red or blue
first world or third world
christian or muslim or buddhist or jew or atheist or agnostic
wealthy or poor
addicted
gay  . .    

when we go there
we are, in effect, running comparisons
setting up hierarchies
good vs bad
allowed vs rejected
in vs out

.. . . . . .. .

remember the apple

..      .

the human penchant for judging is one of the things Jesus came to justify
   as in set straight
he lived and breathed equality
evenhandedness
fairness

his primary teaching was this
- love the Lord God with everything you got
- love your neighbour as you love yourself
      translate that into ' do for others as you want them to do for you '
these, he said, encapsulate the entire old testament

that means somehow i walk past my categorizing
dismiss my natural bent to draw lines
and embrace everyone

not easy, that
in fact it runs counterclockwise to my nature

i figured i had this equality thingy in tow
i wasn't one of those people that judged and categorized people ..

and then i woke up
i started being conscious of my thoughts
   the ones i was pretending i wasn't conscious of
and i had to admit to me
i was
still
after all this time ..

and i feel sick
fail

i'm turning this and that over in my waytoosensitive mind
taking offense
   and listen, i'm not to be easily taking offense
   there's a clause in the classic baptist covenant -
      ' to be slow to take offense, always ready for reconciliation '
   that's to be my attitude

so i fail
judging others rather than judging my self
i need to be changing that

see, God values each one far above what i can know or understand
   i only know that Creator Word became a man, and sacrificed himself for humanity
      for each one
and mine is to honour that
... . .    .

and that's where the spirit of God comes in
overruling my spirit
   when i allow
directing me in love
to love
regardless
unqualifiedly

sometimes i judge simply based on how a person looks
or smells
or speaks
or ..

i have to rest that
stop the boxing
people don't fit well in boxes

they do fit in the category of the imago dei though
they reflect something of the image of the Divine
at least a little
somewhere, maybe deep inside
but it's there
it's there
mine is to accept them as that
and look for that image
search for it like some fine gem waiting to be discovered
for the glory of the Creator God whose image they bear

he loves them
just like he loves me
i hang my hat there
that is my galvanizing impetus in the face of my rabbi, Jesus

if i cannot bring my self to be like Jesus in this
be moving steadily in that direction
fail

mine is to love
regardless
without the judgement
.. unqualifiedly