Holy Priest-Martyr Timothy, Bishop of Prussa (361-63).
Apostles’ Fast.
Romans 3:19-26; Matthew 7:1-8.
Read Matthew 7:1-8
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
When the Greeks had an exceptionally significant and hard trial, they held it in the unlighted room so that the judge and the jury would not be able to see a person on trial, so they could be influenced by nothing but the facts of the case. Sometimes we are inclined to see the worst in our neighbours and to overlook our own weaknesses. It seems to us that we possess the truth allowing us to make an objective judgment about another person. Yet, if we think that way, we inevitably sin against the very first commandment, since we substitute God by ourselves as Adam and Eve did by thinking that they may become equal to God in telling the difference between good and evil.
We have to be conscious of our natural limitations not allowing us to see the picture in its fullness. We only obtain partial understanding of a subject matter. Therefore, our viewpoints are always subjective being far from objectivity that belongs exclusively to God. Acknowledging this fact may help us to look at things and other people from a different perspective. Instead of overemphasizing their shortcomings, why do not we pay more attention to their strengths and merits?
There exists in nature a crystal called Labrador spar. At first sight it seems to be gloomy and possessing no glossiness. Yet, if we turn the crystal and look at it from many different angles, it will eventually come into a position where the light will come upon it in a particular way and it will twinkle with unexpected beauty. The same is true about other people. There is always something good and brilliant in them. We could not notice this right away because we did not know this person in fullness. Yet, as soon as we look at this person from another angle, we may find the apparent reflection of the image and likeness of God which we could not see earlier. As Christians, our aim is not to condemn and to judge other people’s faults, but to search and to rediscover their underlying beauty.