All my life
    I've been judging people,
concluding things about individuals–
    and groups–
and, in the process,
    dismissing them as "less than":

        Those people are lazy.
        She shouldn't eat that doughnut.
        They're white trash.
        He's a redneck.
        Druggie.
        Idiot.

Why have I done this to people?

Easy answer:
    It's how I learned to deal with
my own insecurity–
    tear someone else down
to lift myself up;
    I can feel better about me
if I know others are less competent, less moral, 
    less compassionate, less motivated, blah, blah, blah…

Think of the hundreds of tweets from the president–
    belittling, insulting, name-calling, dismissing–
and imagine the mountain of insecurity and self-doubt
    these tweets are attempting to overcome.

It must be hell.

Don't we all do this?
    Or is it only Dirk and Donald?

Stop judging.

Prejudice thrives on our judgment;
    racism feeds on our judgment.

I am, these days, intentionally interrupting judgments
    as I feel them intruding:
when driving, walking, watching the news,
    I tell myself, "Stop," and then pray something like this:

        "Help me give up this damaging behavior,
            and bless the one I was about to dismiss."

My value comes from the simple fact
    that I exist:
God created me
   and loves me.
God created
    and loves the one
I was about to judge.

This is enough.

Text and image © 2020 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
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