Awkward Moments
“Why do you look
at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank
in your own eye?
Luke 6:41
When Keith noticed the large piece of plastic lying in the office
parking lot he’d decided to leave it lay and see how long it took before the responsible
party decided to clean up after themselves.
That had been almost a month ago, and still it lay wedged against
one of the bumper blocks in the parking space. Faded from exposure to sunlight,
the refuse had become a constant irritant. The fact that no one had bothered to
do anything about the litter became a point of contention. There was no way he
was going to pick it up…and it appeared nobody else was either.
In a moment of frustration he accosted the responsible party,
“You park in the same place every morning. You notice that piece of plastic wedged
in the bumper block?”
The man’s response served to frustrate him even more, “Yeah.
Thought about picking it up but it’s filthy…don’t wanna get that crap on my
clothes.”
The grievance was out before wisdom could stop it, “It’s
your trash!”
The man slowly turned to look at Keith. “No…it’s not. Take a
closer look.”
Stunned, Keith walked over, bent down and picked the
weathered plastic up, and was instantly sorry for his accusation. What he
thought was this man’s litter was, in fact, his. It was the wrapping from his
new printer! How had it managed to get out here?
†
If we would spend more time policing our own actions instead
of scrutinizing what others are doing we would be doing ourselves a great favor
instead of the injustice we do by keeping track of other’s supposed shortcomings.
Had the pastor been willing to pick up the piece of plastic
when he’d first noticed it he could have saved himself weeks of unnecessary
frustration, and a very awkward and embarrassing moment.
Taking the opportunity to help someone instead of
criticizing them might just save us an awkward moment; something we should keep
in mind the next time we are tempted to judge.
Prayer
“Father, help me
overlook the actions of others and focus on sweeping my own side of the street.
In Jesus’ Name, amen.”
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