I Don't Always Judge Righteously

This past Sunday someone shared a story during Sacrament Meeting. He was waiting in the checkout line at a grocery store behind a grungy man who smoked and had a lot of tattoos. He probably judged him, thinking he wasn’t that great of a person, otherwise what happened next wouldn’t have been very memorable. The cashier asked the grungy man if he would like to donate a dollar to a charity. He said, emphatically, “Of course!” This shocked the person behind him. “I never said yes to those things,” he told us. “But I do now.”

That story brought to mind similar experiences that I’ve had, showing me that my initial judgments are often incorrect. A few weeks ago I was on the bus up to Sandy (about a 60 minute bus ride). In front was a man dressed in all black, complete with a black bandana (so it wasn’t Goth style, it was biker-punk style).  He looked bitterly angry, and if it hadn’t been for his left foot being in a cast I would’ve been worried about him coming over and picking a fight with me because I looked at him. This man then began talking to another man in the front who had boarded with an old bicycle and three old bags of stuff. He appeared to be more quiet and respectful than the first but hadn’t shaved in a while.

The two were talking about welfare and unemployment. Their tone was disdainful so I assumed they were complaining. About 20 minutes later the bus took a sharp turn and the quiet man’s bike tipped over and hit the other man’s leg that was in the cast. He let out a groan and grabbed his leg, but he didn’t yell. The quiet man apologized, to which the other man replied, “That’s okay, it’s not like you threw the bike down.” I was shocked. I assumed that he was an angry man. I had passed a terribly incorrect judgment.

Someday shortly after my first experience I was again on the bus, only this time coming home from work. At one point two people boarded and continued a conversation they had begun while waiting for the bus. One was a girl a little older than me, and the other was a boy just a few years younger than me. The boy smelled of cigarette smoke and so I labeled him as a disrespectful trouble maker. I wasn’t too far from the truth because he began to speak of how terrible his time in jail was. He told the girl, “I tried to tell my siblings how terrible it was to make sure they didn’t end up there too. You’re treated like nothing there, not matter how small your offense was. Good thing too, or else you might want to go back.” As that statement settled in, I realized that again I was wrong about who he was. He did care about others and he did have some sense.

I have known many people who smoked or drank, had lots of tattoos, and weren’t well kept. I know that they can be wonderful people, having of more charity and respect than I do. But too often I fall into the trap of putting myself above them.

“Therefore, my son, see that you are merciful unto your brethren; deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your reward; yea, ye shall have mercy restored unto you again; ye shall have justice restored unto you again; ye shall have a righteous judgment restored unto you again; and ye shall have good rewarded unto you again.” – Alma 41: 14