The Power of Judgment

The solstice passes, and judgment arises: the ability to discern, evaluate, and make decisions; allowing Divine Wisdom to flow through us.

They say that good judgment comes with experience, and that experience comes from surviving the consequences of poor judgment (however, I hope that is not true for airline pilots.) Actually, judgment is the process of judging, which, in turn, is the process of forming an opinion. Although we may think that judging is all about discerning "truth," it is more about discerning a personal truth - about being honest with yourself.

What is honesty? Is it saying exactly what is on your mind at the moment, without regard to the feelings of others, without regard to consequences? Is it "truth" and if so, what is the truth? Do we always tell the truth, or do we sometimes lie a little to either save face or to protect the feelings of others.

Now, here's a tough question: are you always honest with yourself and with others?

Here's an even tougher one: what would your current relationships be like if you were totally, completely honest all the time? Would they be better, or would they fall apart? And, if they did fall apart, would living a life of open honesty bring about even better relationshsips, based on real feelings and truth?

With honesty comes the power to judge wisely, to form an opinion. Anyone can judge, and we all do. The rub is this: how well is your judgment serving you? Are you simply judging others? Oh, she's rude. He's unloving. My kids are out of control.

In Matthew 7:1-5 Jesus admonished:

Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam [is] in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

Is it possible that he was trying to tell us to turn our judgment inward? To be honest with ourselves before we ever tried to apply any standards to others?

Certainly, this is much more difficult than it sounds.

One of the dictionary definitions of "judgment" is: a misfortune sent by God as punishment for sin. If to sin is to "miss the mark" then judgment arises naturally as the consequence of actions born of an opinion that is not in alignment with your true nature. In other words, if you are dishonest, with yourself or with others, you will suffer misfortune (i.e. you cannot achieve true happiness and fulfilment.)

Divine Wisdom is not some etheral principle reserved for the holy few. It is the peace and freedoms that comes from living a life of total honesty; with other, and with yourself.

Namaste.