Judgment Day
“I don’t give a f&$# what your mother says! F@#$ your mother!!”
I looked up from my garden chores. The young couple next door were fighting. The husband slammed out the back door, turned to deliver his statement and then stormed off across the road to his buddie’s house. The “mother” he referred to just happened to not only be his mother-in-law, but the owner of the house where he and his young family were living, the provider of the food he was obviously enjoying and the person who gave birth to his wife! What a looser! What a creep! What a pitiful excuse for a human being, I thought as I watched his fat, unkempt body walk away.
If you are thinking that one of us needed to hit their knees and pray fervently for forgiveness, you are right. It was me.
Jesus taught us in the gospels that we are not to judge others. Yes, but…..a part of my mind says, this kid was cursing in the vilest manner the very person who put a roof over his head and fed and clothed him and his family! That’s wrong! Even the Bible says that’s wrong. But the Spirit of God would not let me get away with that. Jesus taught us not to judge others. We are to judge ourselves, but not other people.
I stopped for a moment and judged myself. OUCH. That hurt. OK, Father forgive me, I have no right to judge that boy.
In my minds eye I saw a dark room with nasty blankets thrown around on the floor, a sagging sofa and a thick haze of cigarette and who-knows-what other kind of smoke. A little kid sat on the floor watching a television show that was not age appropriate. In a recliner nearby sat a drunken man with a remote in his hand. “ I don’t give a f*&% what your mother says!” he snorted. “ F&^% you mother.”
Suddenly my heart was broken. How could I judge this kid when maybe that was all he had ever known? How could I hold him to the standards of the Bible when he may never have seen or read one?
I hit my knees and began to pray. I prayed for this boy’s soul, I prayed that God would help him become the father to his son that he had never had for himself. I prayed that God would get hold of his heart and help him be the marvelous human being he was created to be. I prayed that God would pour out his love not only on this young man but on his wife and child.
A few weeks later I saw the young family outdoors and spoke a greeting to them. We exchanged pleasantries and they went on their way. And I returned to praying. Not because he needs it. Because I do.
shadeoftheoaktree 