Moccasins, Planks and Love

Two moons or a mile...it's the walking that counts

Once again I've really overthought and over researched for my small blog on this Thoughtful/Thankful Thursday.  What can I say?  I try quite diligently not to pass on false information.  For example, the iconic phrase about not walking in someone's shoes or moccasins  is supposedly not an old Native American proverb...or is it?  I thought I had it figured out, as certain sites I came across attributed the sentiment to a poet, Mary T. Lathrap in a piece from 1895.  However, I also came across more info that stated it was not contained in a collection of her other works and it turns out I could not find said poem, supposedly titled "Judge Softly", in any other official location.  Perhaps she wrote it or, if not, I couldn't find anyone else connected to it...phew!  To cut this shorter, I suppose

The 'ol "Trunk in the Eye"

it's the sentiment behind the words that are important,  Judging is the topic at hand here.  Now you'll hear many a time not to judge.  The cartoon to the right (the classic Bible verse about the speck and the plank) is a good way to think before pointing out problems in others.  However, as I was researching this judging topic,  I thought that there must be more to it. After all, we do have judges and it does play an important part in keeping our world in order.  Welp, I put on the thinking cap and thought even further on this...in both instances I presented it states to do something ("Walk two moons" or "Take the plank out of your eye") before you talk to someone which sounds to me like getting all the facts in THEN having a discussion, if necessary.  Judging (in Greek katakrino) and discernment (krino) are quite different in application, although both involve drawing conclusions. The main difference is that judgment "condemns" and discernment "separates" good from bad.  In trying to put it as simply as I can, the two have different motivations behind them, as judging elevates you above the person you are dealing with (kinda selfish, eh?), whilst discernment puts you on equal ground with others while trying to help and not hurt them (kinda not selfish!). Phew again! 

The following link is where I picked up some of the info (the Greek stuff) and is a good read if you want to expand (ya, I know I was already wordy but I tried my best to condense!) on this topic.

http://www.goodnewsarticles.com/May98-4.htm

That's really getting to the heart of the matter!

Okay, so trying to tie this complicated thought of mine up, I believe the pic on the left sums it up pretty well.  

I will do my best to know you

and try hard not to judge

but striving to say helpful things 

because I care and love :)