Old monitor - “After a day spent staring at a computer monitor, think of a book as a kind of screen saver for your brain”Charles Allen, in his book Victories in the Valleys of Life (Fleming H. Revell, 1981), tells the story of a man who, one wintry day, went to traffic court in Wichita, Kansas, not knowing court had been canceled because of a blizzard. A few days later he wrote this letter:
"I was scheduled to be in court February 23rd, at 12:15 p.m., concerning a traffic ticket. Well, I was there as scheduled and, to my surprise, I was the only one there. No one had called to tell me that the court would be closed, so I decided to go ahead with the hearing as scheduled, which meant that I had to be the accuser, the accused and the judge. The citation was for going 46 miles per hour in a 35-mile-per-hour zone. I had the speed alert on in my car, set for 44 miles per hour; and as the accuser, I felt that I was going over 35 miles per hour, but as the accused, I know that I was not going 46 miles per hour. As judge, and being the understanding man that I am, I decided to throw it out of court this time. But it had better not happen again."
He had a rare opportunity to judge himself and took full advantage. On the other hand, we probably judge ourselves all day long. We may even react more harshly to our own mistakes and errors than we would ever react to those same shortcomings in others.
Two thousand years ago a Roman writer named Publilius Syrus observed, "How unhappy are they who cannot forgive themselves." Whether dealing with others or with ourselves, it usually helps to err on the side of grace. Do you need to be gentler with yourself?
From Lifesupport.
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