Tomorrow night Blitzen Trapper is going to be in town at the Orange Peel. I’m excited to go check them out, and tickets are only $12! Now the only song that I know of theirs is “furr” but it’s made its way onto my most played list over the past few months. Here’s my favorite lyric, it’s really affected me lately…
“And I lost the taste for judging right from wrong
For my flesh had turned to fur, yeah
And my thoughts, they surely were
Turned to instinct and obedience to God.”
The way I hear it, the guy has gone to live among a pack of wolves. When he does he loses the taste for judging right from wrong and instead turns to instinct and obedience to God. Instead of being concerned with judging those around him, he wants to live the best life possible and obey God. Maybe I’m totally wrong on the meaning of this lyric, but I find it so beautiful.
If you haven’t noticed, lately I’ve really been stuck on the habit that I see in the lives of myself and others to judge other people constantly. I don’t know if I’m trying to find a cure or just understand it better so that I can live better. It just seems that at some point during each day I observe, partake, or ponder on the idea of judging. Immediately words of Jesus teachings flood my head that speak to how judging is not healthy or wise.
…do not judge or you will be judged…
…in the same way you judge others, you will be judged…
…I came not to judge the world, but to save it…
Still over and over it seems to me that “religious” people are the ones that are the quickest and best at judging others. It seems that many people are far more concerned about whether or not someone else is making a mistake than working on correcting the mistakes in their own lives. I’m constantly reminded that if I really want to effect change, I need to be the change I want to see. Still so many want to shove things in someone else’s face instead of showing the mercy that we would like to receive. It’s almost like we feel like we don’t deserve mercy so we never give it to anyone else. We don’t think that others will be forgiving of our mistakes so we don’t forgive others. I am so thankful that those that love me don’t shove my mistakes in my face all the time. In fact, those that care about me usually show me the most love when I mess up. They remind me that I am not my mistakes and that it is possible to grow and leave them in past. I’ve found that their love in the face of my imperfections is what motivates me to move beyond my faults to a better way.
The choice is always there to judge or love.
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
– 1 Cor. 13:13
Izzy Rodriguez 
Judging is a very interesting topic. I agree that the ugly side of judging is not clarity and can be catty and harsh and bring out our ugliest selves. However, I do wonder if we should have another word for what is sometimes called ‘judging’. For instance, if I see a couple relating in a way that I find distasteful, I will go over in my mind or with my friends how I think that couple (as an example) might relate in a more mature manner. What I’m ultimately doing is reflecting myself in what i see and trying to help define me by stating what I would do differently. Our society says that in so doing we should put that couple down – the ‘judging’ part. What we can realize is that it’s ok to decide how we think we might handle their situation differently and we can also leave space for those people to be where they are. Does that make sense?