Do not judge too hard

A church-sister of mine went to be with the Lord a few days ago. Through her, God taught me an awful lot about self-righteousness. She was not a perfect person, no one is, but my religious self tended to forget that, and so I didn’t treat her the way I should have all the time. But I’m so grateful to God for the opportunity to put my religious tendencies aside and love her purely in the past few months before she kissed this world goodbye. When I heard she had passed, I thought of a poem I was read, one I want to share with you. Its author is unknown; I came across it in a book by Nancy Van Pelt, ‘To have and to hold: a guide to successful marriage’ (don’t ask why I was reading this book, lol). This poem needs no further introductions, nor does it need ending comments, it just hits home all by itself. Here it is:

Not Judge Too Hard
(Unknown)

Pray don’t find fault with the man who limps
 Or stumbles along the road,
Unless you have worn the shoes he wears
 Or struggled beneath his load.
There may be tacks in his shoes that hurt,
 Though hidden away from view,
Or the burden he bears, placed on your neck,
 Might cause you to stumble, too.

Don’t sneer at the man who’s  down today,
 Unless you have felt the blow
That caused his fail, or felt the shame
 That only the fallen know.
You may be strong, but still the blows
 That were his, if dealt to you
In the self-same way, at the self-same time,
 Might cause you to stagger, too.

Don’t be too harsh with the man who sins,
 Or pelt him with words or stones,
Unless you are sure, yea, doubly sure,
 That you have not sins of your own.
For you know, perhaps, if the tempter’s voice
 Should whisper as soft to you
As did to him when he went astray
 ‘Twould cause you to falter, too.