June 8, 2008: Specks and Planks – Michael Hidalgo

This may be one of the most misquoted verses in the Gospels. It is great to “off” people who judge us by simply saying, “Don’t judge me, look at your faults you hypocrite!” This feels good and gives us a much-needed excuse to continue acting and behaving however we want. However, when we respond like this we are the ones being the hypocrites! There is an underlying theme from the sages that Jesus seems to be rubbing up against. The rabbis taught people to judge favorably. We who have planks in our eyes make excuses or rationalize our issues. What is we began to ask the question, “What is the reason that person has a speck in her eye?” What if we gave others to benefit of the doubt much like we give ourselves the benefit of the doubt. What if our clarity came by way of offering people a hand because we understand their world - what if we did not judge until we were where they are?