Judgement Day

Judge not, lest you be judged

I have a friend that has cerebral Palsy.  He is in a wheelchair, and he is hard to understand.  He sells newspapers at my church.  Many people just put the money on the table and take their paper.  No eye contact, no greeting. 

I have a nephew that has tattoos.  A bunch of tattoos, both arms.  They call them “full sleeve”.  He has some on his neck and on his legs.  He also has some piercings on his face.  He hides them by wearing long sleeves at family gatherings, because some people don’t like them.    You would be surprised at what he does for a living, and how tender he is with his nieces and nephews.

I know a girl who  used to dress with clothes from Salvation Army.  The wilder the more outrageous  the better for her.  Sometimes her hair was pink, other times blue.  She had piercings on her face, and enough holes in her ears to wear dozens of earrings.  I love her.

I have a friend who is a priest.  He is funny.  He doesn’t preach.  He has come to parties at my house, and people thought he was just a family friend.  He drinks beer, has gone camping and hiking with my husband all over the country.  He is the best friend my Husband has ever had.

I know a young man who is deaf.  He reads lips, and speaks quite clearly unless he tries to talk too fast.  I have seen people avoid his gaze and walk away because they don’t want to bother taking the time to have a conversation with him.

I know a woman who is blind.  Her kids went to school with my kids.  Other Mom’s would walk right past her, maybe they were put off by her gaze because she didn’t wear sunglasses.  I see her every so often, and I always stop and talk to her.  She is a wonderful Mom and woman. 

I know a young man who is severely dyslexic.  His whole life people have assumed that he was “dumb” because he had such a hard time in school.  You would be surprised at his IQ.

I know a woman who is sick.  She has a disease that no one has heard of.  They look it up on the internet and think….well, it’s not fatal if she takes care of herself.  People cannot understand how she could be so sick for so long.  People don’t understand that  there are “lifelong” conditions.  That they will never go away. 

“Normals”  don’t want to hear or think about sick people, or people who are different.  I guess it is easier to ignore people than try to understand them.  

Don’t turn your head, don’t walk the other way.  Do not judge.