L
Lynxdk
Guest
Judge not, the least of these… homeless, refugees, the poor, the sick or in prison…
See… this is what people do. They look at a guy on the side of the road, holding a sign, and they jump to conclusions. They see a picture on the news displaying a bunch of young males and assume that’s all refugees are. The listen to sermons from pulpits condemning exaggerated stereotypes that are loosely associated with stigmatic straw-men they create in their own minds. Creating caricatures of people that we can use to justify using, abusing or ignoring, as if they don’t qualify as Children of the One Most High.
People can barely tell hearsay from heresy these days.
Judgments. Because of the way we feel about our own lives.
See? I’m not accusing anyone here. I do it too. Start making assumptions… Why they’re there, what makes them think they deserve… Why don’t they just do what I did, suck it up and… Why they said what they did, a certain way… sounds like I’ve heard this before…
People do that to each other, all the time, without thinking about it, realizing it. Because life sucks, eh? Bitter, angry at all the things we’ve had to live through, and what we’re living through, now. Who’s at fault, who’s to blame. Thinking that other guy is just lazy, they probably haven’t had is as bad as ~I~ have… been through the things ~I’ve~ been through… and look at me! I’m making it! I’m doing well for myself…
When we do it like that, though, who are we talking to? Who are we trying to convince? Ourselves? The other guy? God?
Always God. God’s always there. People get scared of that idea sometimes. Having some guy rooting around in your head, looking for Sin with which to hold against and punish us for… But is that how God works?
Nope. But God understands. Having made us, programmed us, built us, designed us, of Course He would. We can “humanize” the idea for a moment, for perspective. Maybe He didn’t quite realize where things would lead to, at first, and only Hoped… Maybe He can see All the possible ways we can become, change, react, learn and behave, but He waits and Hopes that we’ll take the best paths He’s already Chosen for us, and watches, even still, when we get off track, finding ways to nudge us in the right directions.
So when ~I~ look at people, and I rush to judgments, I don’t let them settle and stick. I ~feel~ all the ways I feel about things, from my ~own~ perspective. Why do I feel angry that some lazy jerk on the side of the road, is fleecing people pretending… Are they pretending? You offer them a job, and they turn you down…
Some people have a pride problem, and ~can’t~ accept a job from someone that’s looking down on them. Did you know that? People can read tone of voice, body language, attitude in the way we say things, hold ourselves, position ourselves, when we talk. We don’t just “read” each others words through our ears, we “read” each others Minds when we see the whole person.
Which is why I prefer text. With my schizophrenia, it feels like you’re ~screaming~ at me, with everything you say.
Some other people are hurting more than you can know, for reasons other than pride, and may instantly expect your offer is going to come with pain, being treated like a nothing. The offer is an accusation, and a threat of punishment. If they accept the job, you might just be taking advantage to lord it over them the whole time, proselytizing at best, abusing and using them, at worst.
That’s how a lot of people end up on the streets, to start with, trying to get away from situations that were Harming them, more than they could bear. Enough that being homeless and sleeping behind bushes and under bridges, actually hurts ~less~ than the situation they Left. I’ve been there a few times.
Things like that are the reason why many people get “stuck” and they call it “mental illness” but it really isn’t Mental. Emotional wounds that affect cognition. And people are able to Heal from these wounds, and recover themselves, and become better, when they figure out that the only person who can “fix” them, are Themselves.
And God. God can be there for us, and show us the way, whether we believe it, or not. Not everyone has those perspectives, though, especially since a lot of religion gets used to abuse people, often starting as children.
Like the way folks judge and condemn each other, not knowing a single thing about them, outside of the conclusions they jumped to, in the first place. A lot of people don’t have an easy way out, though. They get stuck in the problems that brought them low, and they only know how to “beg” for things to get better, and don’t know how to take care of themselves the way others do, or there’s too much pain, anger, trauma related problems, that keep them from sorting themselves out on their own. Begging for mercy, from a hateful God that’s punishing them, simply for having existed, for having been created in the first place, by no will or fault of their own.
It can ~feel~ that way, but that’s Not how it works. Christ explained these things, and expects us, wants for us, to pick up our crosses and lean on Him, showing others The Way. We have to learn How first, by examining our Own lives, and how we’ve gotten to the places we’ve been, and how we can get out of them, not just in the Physical sense of “Thank God I’m not homeless or a refugee” but in Emotional and Spiritual senses, as well.
There’s a lot of interplay between these things. It’s pretty difficult to find peace of mind, when you’re sleeping in a dormitory full of strangers whom may or may not be “safe” to be around. Worse when you’re sleeping outside, and never know when someone else might come up on you while you sleep.
See… this is what people do. They look at a guy on the side of the road, holding a sign, and they jump to conclusions. They see a picture on the news displaying a bunch of young males and assume that’s all refugees are. The listen to sermons from pulpits condemning exaggerated stereotypes that are loosely associated with stigmatic straw-men they create in their own minds. Creating caricatures of people that we can use to justify using, abusing or ignoring, as if they don’t qualify as Children of the One Most High.
People can barely tell hearsay from heresy these days.
Judgments. Because of the way we feel about our own lives.
See? I’m not accusing anyone here. I do it too. Start making assumptions… Why they’re there, what makes them think they deserve… Why don’t they just do what I did, suck it up and… Why they said what they did, a certain way… sounds like I’ve heard this before…
People do that to each other, all the time, without thinking about it, realizing it. Because life sucks, eh? Bitter, angry at all the things we’ve had to live through, and what we’re living through, now. Who’s at fault, who’s to blame. Thinking that other guy is just lazy, they probably haven’t had is as bad as ~I~ have… been through the things ~I’ve~ been through… and look at me! I’m making it! I’m doing well for myself…
When we do it like that, though, who are we talking to? Who are we trying to convince? Ourselves? The other guy? God?
Always God. God’s always there. People get scared of that idea sometimes. Having some guy rooting around in your head, looking for Sin with which to hold against and punish us for… But is that how God works?
Nope. But God understands. Having made us, programmed us, built us, designed us, of Course He would. We can “humanize” the idea for a moment, for perspective. Maybe He didn’t quite realize where things would lead to, at first, and only Hoped… Maybe He can see All the possible ways we can become, change, react, learn and behave, but He waits and Hopes that we’ll take the best paths He’s already Chosen for us, and watches, even still, when we get off track, finding ways to nudge us in the right directions.
So when ~I~ look at people, and I rush to judgments, I don’t let them settle and stick. I ~feel~ all the ways I feel about things, from my ~own~ perspective. Why do I feel angry that some lazy jerk on the side of the road, is fleecing people pretending… Are they pretending? You offer them a job, and they turn you down…
Some people have a pride problem, and ~can’t~ accept a job from someone that’s looking down on them. Did you know that? People can read tone of voice, body language, attitude in the way we say things, hold ourselves, position ourselves, when we talk. We don’t just “read” each others words through our ears, we “read” each others Minds when we see the whole person.
Which is why I prefer text. With my schizophrenia, it feels like you’re ~screaming~ at me, with everything you say.
Some other people are hurting more than you can know, for reasons other than pride, and may instantly expect your offer is going to come with pain, being treated like a nothing. The offer is an accusation, and a threat of punishment. If they accept the job, you might just be taking advantage to lord it over them the whole time, proselytizing at best, abusing and using them, at worst.
That’s how a lot of people end up on the streets, to start with, trying to get away from situations that were Harming them, more than they could bear. Enough that being homeless and sleeping behind bushes and under bridges, actually hurts ~less~ than the situation they Left. I’ve been there a few times.
Things like that are the reason why many people get “stuck” and they call it “mental illness” but it really isn’t Mental. Emotional wounds that affect cognition. And people are able to Heal from these wounds, and recover themselves, and become better, when they figure out that the only person who can “fix” them, are Themselves.
And God. God can be there for us, and show us the way, whether we believe it, or not. Not everyone has those perspectives, though, especially since a lot of religion gets used to abuse people, often starting as children.
Like the way folks judge and condemn each other, not knowing a single thing about them, outside of the conclusions they jumped to, in the first place. A lot of people don’t have an easy way out, though. They get stuck in the problems that brought them low, and they only know how to “beg” for things to get better, and don’t know how to take care of themselves the way others do, or there’s too much pain, anger, trauma related problems, that keep them from sorting themselves out on their own. Begging for mercy, from a hateful God that’s punishing them, simply for having existed, for having been created in the first place, by no will or fault of their own.
It can ~feel~ that way, but that’s Not how it works. Christ explained these things, and expects us, wants for us, to pick up our crosses and lean on Him, showing others The Way. We have to learn How first, by examining our Own lives, and how we’ve gotten to the places we’ve been, and how we can get out of them, not just in the Physical sense of “Thank God I’m not homeless or a refugee” but in Emotional and Spiritual senses, as well.
There’s a lot of interplay between these things. It’s pretty difficult to find peace of mind, when you’re sleeping in a dormitory full of strangers whom may or may not be “safe” to be around. Worse when you’re sleeping outside, and never know when someone else might come up on you while you sleep.