"Judge not that ye be not judged"

I had a great lesson from a guy that I met last night at my work where I sell plants in a roadside tent. Right as I needed to go home, a man pulled up in a truck and I immediately went a little tense. At 8 o'clock at night in an empty parking lot, I don't exactly trust a lot of the people that come by. This guy was looking a little rough around the edges. He had obviously been in some sort of a minor accident in the past few days from the cuts and bruises on him, and he didn't speak very proper English, though he was a white guy. I wasn't exactly excited for him to be there, and I sure as heck double checked that everything was locked up.

Though I smelled fish, I decided to listen to him and didn't show this original suspicion based on my prejudice toward him. He began by explaining why he was looking for flowers that night. A friend of his had died a year ago, and he had gone to visit the friend's grave for the week of memorial day. They had grown up together, and it upset him that the family did absolutely nothing for their daughter for memorial day. He wanted to spruce up the overgrown grave site and even was willing to pay for a headstone so that she could rest with dignity.

We talked for a good chunk of time. I offered what little help I could in finding work. I knew of a few job openings and told him where he could apply. He discussed his past work experience and he turned out to be a very amiable person.

Now, I do not believe that I was wrong in pulling up my defenses internally towards a sketchy figure at night. Had something happened, those defenses could have saved my life and a lot of money for the company. My point is, I listened first, and then I spoke, or acted, accordingly. Had I gone off of my initial gut feeling alone, which wasn't good, I might have treated him differently and remained closed to a very noble person. Instead, I received a sweet lesson in humanity, and even could have taken the opportunity to share the Gospel with this good man.

I am very grateful for the progress that I am making in coping with new ideas and people that appear different. It brings me peace to know that I am moving towards a better understanding of people, and my love for God's children increases each time that I make the effort. My love for my own self also increases, and I have a better self-image as I learn that imperfections do not define us, rather goodness.

I close with a quote from the movie that I watched last night with a few friends: Secondhand Lions. Robert Duval says

Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things that a man needs to believe in the most: that people are basically good; that honor, courage, and virtue mean everything; that power and money, money and power mean nothing; that good always triumphs over evil; and I want you to remember this, that love, true love, never dies... No matter if they're true or not, a man should believe in those things because those are the things worth believing in.

Amen to that. The challenge that I leave for this week is probably very obvious. Try to listen to someone that you normally would never talk to, and get to know them before metaphorically throwing the first stone at them. You never know when you will find a true friend in someone that appears very different from you.