The Washington herald., 1908-01-12
A SUNDAY TALK.

Judge not. and ye shall not be Judged condemn
not and ye shall not be condemned; forgive. and
ye shall be torgiven.-St Luke, us8
II was while Jesus Christ was in Galilee
that the Pharisees. doubling Him, gather
ed about and watched Him to see what
His conduct as to healing and admins
terlng help to those about Him would
be on the Sabbath day It was His
knowledge of this supervision that led
Him TO preach to His disciples one of the
most effective of those sermons whose
tenets have been an integral part of the
Christian religion for two thousand years,
and which, being followed so far as hu-
man fallibility and weakness would allow
them to be. lave sweetened life and en-
larged the hope Of man
To follow the precePts Of the text print
ed above is to follow the road to the
only sure and certain happiness that is
allowed to man-the happiness that comes
from clean living, right thinking, high
aspirations. As Charlotte Bronte wrote:
The Great Being unseen. bat all present, who. in
HIS pnehcence. desires only welfare, watches
the struggle between good and evil IN our hearts
IN the whispers Of conscience OF lend ear to the
spirit Of evil. which seeks % lead astray Rough
and steep Is the path indicated by divine suggss-
tian; messy and declining the green way along
which temptation streWs flowers. Then conscience
whispers; DO what y0u feel IS right, obey me- and
VIII plant for y9u firm footing.
II is doubtful whether any Of US quite
realize the force and subtlety of the
temptations that come TO ourselves-evil
is so insdious. How then is il possible
for Us TO realize, even dimly, the force Of
the temptations that assan our neighbor
and 10 which perhaps. too often he sue
cumbsF Evil is rampant in the world; Il
Is all about us, on every hand. and il
needs all Of our strength and faith and
struggling 10 keep from being swept into
the maelstr0m Of sin.
If this Is true about ourselves. how
necessary it is then that we should keep
the words of the text firmly in our minds.
Judge not, that We be not judged" Il is
quite impossible to weigh the actions. the
impulses. the strength, the temptations Of
our fell0w-man; how then can we Judge
rightly the Tesuits2 If we sin. be sure
we shah pay the price Of our transgres-
sion, for God is not Mocked, If our
brother sins and seems to prosper. be as
sured that he too has the price to pay
and instead Of judging and condemning
him, remember, first, that he IS deserving
Of all pity.
do not think that the mere act OF liv-
ing rightly is easy, or, indeed. natural:
for as Amiel says.
To do right is in one sense an act of violence;
II is suffering CVUiati0u q cross. for il means the
conquest and euslayemeut If self In another sense
Il IS an apprenticeship 10 heavenly things sweet
and secret JOS. c0utentment and peace
And so. because we are sinners all. IL
beh00ves us all 10 be very tender and
merciful toward other sinners. As we pray
God TO be forgiven. so must we be ready
10 forgive. The doctrine enunciated in
the text above is precisely that which
Jesus afterward Incorporated into the
prayer that bears His name. Forgive u
our trespasses, as we forgive those who
trespass against us
All through His life He gave HIS dis
ciples and others a practical demonstra-
ton Of the working of this text which ]
have quoted, in practice. He judged
none condemned none; fOrgaye many;
Pardon, not wrath, IS Gods best attribute
And so our prayer should ever be for
a heart and mind attured 70 the sin. the
suffering. the sorrow of others. Above all
We need 70 learn to be able to pray with
Pope.
Teach me 10 feel an0ther5 woe,
10 hide the fault I see:
That mercy ] % others show.
That mercy show 10 me