Just happened to see this article I wrote before while I was browsing my files. Written more than 5 years ago for our local church's quarterly newsletter publication "The Gardener."
You're riding a bus on your way to school or work when it suddenly stopped to pick up some commuters. Then a not-so-old man who looks like a villain from one of Fernando Poe Jr.'s movies comes in. Your mind instinctively told you to pray because the guy looks very suspicious. As you were saying your silent prayer you saw the bus conductor asked the man his destination. Instead of answering the question, the man quickly lunges for his pocket. Then here comes your imaginative mind again telling you, "He's going to pull his gun and declare a holdup..." And as soon as you finish creating such suspicion, the man pulls his old twenty-peso bill from his pocket and softly tells the conductor, "Munoz lang brod." With a sigh of relief, you calmly told yourself, "Thank you, Lord."
Sounds familiar? Such scenes are figments of our imagination bordering on being judgmental. We judge people by the way they look, the way they dress, the way they speak, the way they act. Our own biases plays a great part with the way we treat people and think about them. This can be traced back to our past experiences during childhood when "negative first impressions" had such an unpleasant impact in our subconsciousness.
We need to get rid of such flaws in our nature. As new creatures (I Corinthians 5:17), we need to think, speak and act in a way that will give glory to our Savior, Healer, Sanctifier and coming King. Let us claim the enabling power of God which will help us look at others as His gift to us.
Let us remember not to judge others by what we see, neither by what we hear. For as we judge, God will also judge us, and with the measure we use, such will be God's measures to us (Isaiah 11:3; Matthew 7:1).
So next time we're in a bus and a suspicious-looking guy comes in and turns out to be a real holdupper, just be calm. Let us hold on to God's promise that "He will never leave us nor forsake us." (Hebrews 13:5)
Oh loh! Sad to say but our very own Ramiele Malubay, the last true amateur of the competition, got booted out of American Idol. No more reason for me to watch AI on QTV anymore, and no more video performances of her to upload in my iPod. (sigh) She's really done enough to make our flag proudly waving on world stage. Hopefully, this won't be the last we'll be seeing her 'cause she really has the talent to make it big in the music industry. For sure the two network giants here in the Philippines are in a tug-of-war of sorts right now for the exclusive rights of signing her to make her appear in their turf and give her a recording contract. Good luck on your next journey Ramiele.
