I'd woken from a dream which got me thinking about things from my past. Things which seemed innocent at the time, but looking back, might have caused harm, and in retrospect might have had less pure motivation that I'd realised. Other things which I'd done that were obviously wrong, but pursued anyway. When reviewing my past like this, any semblance of moral high ground in me slinks humbly to the ground. I can stand in judgement on no-one.
It reminded me of the story of a woman caught, very obviously, in the act of wrong. She was dragged by a mob and thrown at Jesus' feet, for him to judge her actions. The crowd knew what the judgement should be. They carried their stones with them in readiness! But Jesus did something unexpected!
Squatting before them, he began to write in the dust. Now we're not told what he wrote, but something in those words cut to the very core of those people standing ready to mete out judgement. It has been suggested that he simply wrote words that spoke of the wrong-doings each one of them was guilty of, and that as they recognised their guilt, those stones fell from strengthless fingers. One by one they crept away as they silently acknowledged their own shame. Finally they had all gone, and Jesus lifted that woman to her feet, lifted that guilt from her shoulders, and sent her on her way with the encouragement not to get sucked in to that spiral again.
Who of us has any moral high ground to stand in judgement on another? Why do we feel the need to judge and whisper and criticise? Maybe we sometimes need to remember how we have failed, and instead of judging, reach out to lift someone up.
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