Judgment Day

"Judge not that ye be not judged." Matthew 7:1

There is a massive blizzard raging in Chicago. I excused employees from work and left early myself. If one were ever to imagine a world forsaken by God, it would look something like Chicago today.

Icky.

The subway was packed with irritable people, all convinced that theirs was the most important journey. Moods were foul and tempers were barely restrained as the cars filled to capacity. At my stop I've discovered that the last car is usually the best bet for staking territory, and while there were no seats available, I managed to find a spot that kept me out of traffic patterns and allowed me to have a comfortable handhold. On a day like today, more could not be expected.

At the next stop a crush of people got on. Included in this was a man clearly suffering the worst of a winter cold. He looked miserable and it was clear that his nose was particularly problematic. It was red and swollen and dripping. Not an attractive, yet understandable condition. He moved as best as he could to the end of the car and I paid him no more attention. My focus was taken by three teens who were clearly enjoying the weather. They were loud and having a good time in that annoying-yet-harmless way that teens do. I noted them and then retreated back into my own thoughts.

That is, until the flash went off. I turned to see one of the teens pointing a camera in my general direction. Even under the best of circumstances I'm reluctant to have my picture taken, but in direct, overhead fluorescent light, taken by a stranger to be broadcast on the Internet? I don't think so. I simply turned my face away. Then another flash went off. And then another. Finally I looked to see what was going on. The camera was not pointed at me, rather it was pointed at the man with a cold, who had taken a tissue and stuffed it up one nostril allowing a large portion to dangle over his mouth. Of course he looked ridiculous. Yet given his array of inelegant options while trying to maintain his balance on a jerky train, I thought this was the most practical, if not the most a flattering. Still with each flash of the camera, and there were several more, my attention drifted from the man to the kids taking the pictures.

If there is any standard by which taking that man's picture would not be considered rude, I don't know what it might be. I did what I could to position myself between the man and the camera, but the boy taking the pictures was determined. I grew more and more angry on the man's behalf. I judged these kids, and this boy in particular, to be rude. Then I became aware of my judgment.

As creatures of the universe, I believe it is impossible to interact socially without passing judgment. Some are benign, like preferring the first Darren to the second on Bewitched; others may be more harsh, such as deciding that a particular individual is a toxic influence in one's life and taking steps to avoid that person. In the case of the latter, others may determine that the individual in question has some redeeming virtue, and view your judgment to be too harsh, or short sighted, or made with some degree of ignorance; and in that, those people are making their own judgment.

It has been my experience that people make judgments in a hierarchical fashion, meaning that what meets with approval is considered superior to that which does not. On rare occasions I've met people who would have you believe that they make no judgments, or if they do, they keep those judgments to themselves. How would that be possible? Isn't that judgment expressed by a decision to not return a phone call, or by simply looking away? And in the extreme, I'm always entertained by those who point out other judgmental individuals and comment upon it -- usually in a superior fashion.

The pinnacle of judgment is reserved for those who make the judgments yet act against them. Those who volunteer in a homeless shelter, not because it's a social responsibility, but because they are helping those less fortunate. Pity is the most insidious form of judgment there is; at least in my opinion.

Passing judgment is simply a fact of life. Everyone in recorded western history has passed judgment. There are those who might argue that Christ was the last person on Earth who did not pass judgment. And yet, was it not Christ who said, "Father forgive them; for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34) Could there be a more judgmental statement? Of course, we give Christ a pass because he was the son of God. But how can God expect humans to do something that even He was unable to avoid in His final moment?

As the train plowed through the snow, people disembarked at various stops, and the kids moved away and on to other topics, blithely unaware of their insensitivity. In the grand scheme of things there was no harm done, and they were just children. Still I think the real lesson here is not to avoid making judgments, I think the real lesson is to realize when the judgment has been made and then to practice forgiveness. And if that's the case, who is it I should forgive? The kids for being self-absorbed American teenagers? Myself for wanting to slap them senseless for their rude actions? Or the man with the cold for not being able to find a more elegant way of dealing with his malady?

And of course, none of this would have run through my head if I had simply been able to sit down and read my Red Eye.