_GOLDEN RULE COURAGE_
"There is so much good in the worst of us,
And so much bad in the best of us,
That it hardly becomes any of us
To talk about the rest of us."
THAT popular rhyme hits the nail squarely on the head. We are not to
judge others. The world would be a pleasanter dwelling place if we would
lay aside our critical attitude, and look on the best side of the men
and women about us. Instead, however, it sometimes seems as if we were
determined to forget all the good, and remember only the evil. Our
additions to the comments of others are not praise, but blame. We do not
seek to correct an unfavorable comment by saying, "But think of the good
there is in his life"; we insist on drowning merited praise by saying,
"But think how selfish he is; how careless of the comfort of others!"
That is the cowardly thing to do. And life calls for courage.
The worst thing about the maker of such comments is that the readier he
is to see--or imagine--faults in another, the more blind he is apt to
become to faults in himself. This inability to see his own shortcomings
would be ludicrous if it were not so pitiful. Yet these shortcomings are
apparent to all who know him. Jesus, who knew human nature, said, "Judge
not, that ye be not judged ... first cast out the beam out of thine own
eye; then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy
brother's eye."
The courageous task of reforming ourselves seems prodigious when we
think what good opinions we have of ourselves and what poor opinions we
have of others, but the task is not impossible, for God has promised to
give us the help we need, and He will never disappoint us. An earthly
father knows how to give good things to his children; shall not the
Heavenly Father do as much and more?
Since we have such a Father, it is the least we can do to learn of Him
the true philosophy of life. Listen while He tells us what it is:
"All things, therefore, whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you,
even so do ye also unto them."
Impossible and impracticable? Let us see.
I