Friday of the 23rd Week in Ordinary
Time
September 11, 2015 8:30am
Imagine that someone’s sarcastic remarks
really bother you.
You start forming an opinion
about them, but before you do, you wonder if you’re seeing the whole picture.
Is there something going on in
that person’s life that you don’t know about?
It doesn’t make what they did
right, but it may slow you down and help you to see more about them as persons.
Maybe someone at home or at work really
messes up something today.
You are ready to really let them
have it, but then, you decide to talk first with the person.
You are even humble enough to see
that you may have done something to contribute to the mess or make the
situation worse.
This helps to temper your temper.
Maybe someone lets you down and
really disappoints you.
Before you walk away and just
write them off, you decide to talk with them.
You may discover that they are also
disappointed in themselves and that they want to do well.
You may discover that they want
your help and support to do well.
The point underneath these possible
situations is this.
Often the “beam” in our own eye – to use Jesus’ expression – is simply
not understanding the full
picture in someone’s life,
or forgetting that we have done
or neglected to do something that is partially responsible for what happened.
or being unaware of the other
person’s good intentions.
Jesus asks us to get in touch
with what he calls “the beams” in our
own eyes.
That will often make what we see
in others not as big and horrendous as it seems, maybe even just like a “splinter.”
