Judge not

Have you ever stopped and considered how much mental time you spend judging other people?

I was reading a short book yesterday on perfecting your mental game in the sport of tennis. One of the core lessons was to never judge shots. The instructor said it was vitally important that a player not get upset over misplaced balls, shots hit long or into the net, but to keep one’s thinking clean of all negative emotion in order to concentrate on doing well with every play. I could see much room for improvement in my own “mental game” on that score, and will work to not judge shots from now on, since I miss many, :) , but focus on doing my very best every time.

But I couldn’t help taking the lesson to a wider platform. How often do I judge "shots” in everyday life, I asked myself.

For example, mentally voicing disapproval of someone’s actions and wondering why they act in such-and-such a way, resentment, rehashing events long past, forming a personal opinion, getting agitated over another’s actions, are a few examples of judging others. You might think of several more.

It can happen so subtly. I consider myself to be very easy on others, making it a goal to love them no matter what, and that’s what I strive to practice. But I could see how tricky mortal mind is at times, slipping in questionable judgments of other’s actions and rehearsing them without realizing it.

To see what would happen, I worked to void my consciousness of all personal judgments. In particular, I focused on releasing concern about an acquaintance who had acted in, what I thought was a very selfish way last week. The objectionable action kept re-playing in my mind like a broken record. I realized I was rendering judgment on this person, and I needed to stop it. It was not my job to judge his actions. My job was to love him as a child of God. God was the judge, not me. And I was foolish to try to peform God’s responsibility.

The uplifting effect of consecrating my attention on not judging anyone was amazing. I was already in a buoyant attitude, but I found even more cheer and buoyancy after this little exercise of releasing all condemnatory judgment.

Negative judgments are evil, I knew. They are totally unnecessary. If someone errs, God will rectify the error. I can see the error for what it is and know it’s wrong, but I don’t have to form a negative opinion against the person who erred. I can separate the error from that person and know Truth will destroy the problem and save the individual. And I can save myself grief by not empowering the error in my thought by giving it tenterhooks into my consciousness through a belief that the evil was real and powerful. Evil seems real and powerful to the degree we believe it or fear it. Rendering dark judgment and holding to it makes evil a bigger reality in our thinking and gives us more to handle and deal with.

Judge not. It’s a route to healing, and incredibly liberating from unnecessary mental baggage we don’t have to carry around.

Judge not. Go ahead. Do it! Let go of those personal opinions, offended emotions, and dark grudges.

Judge not. Love more and rise into the ebullient freedom that comes from living in a consciousness of Love that looks for the good, beholds the good, and empowers only the good.

Judge not. Criticize not, condemn not, resent not, begrudge not, and envy not. Love instead and be free.

Your “shots” in the game of life will improve!