Norwich bulletin., 1915-07-31
Sunday Morning Talk
LIFE IN GLASS HOUSES.

There is so much bad in the best of us, And so much good in the worst of us, That it hardly behooves any of us To talk about the rest of us.s
 Yet that is just what we are doing continually. The habit of forming and expressing harsh Judgments is one that grows by leaps and bounds when once it is indulged at all. Brickbats of criticism fly from our hands with reck- less disregard of the consequences should any come flying the other way. We forget that we ourselves occupy glass houses.
 The faults of the other fellow are so much more apparent than our own that we can hardly fail to notice them. We are conscious ourselves of doing pretty well-considering everything. But We have our doubts about the other man. having observed his frafl- ties and failures for years. There are generally, moreover, stories and rumors current about him that mark him down for bad lot. We know these things as perhaps we do not know his good impulses, his honorable purposes, and his efforts to do right. We are apt to be thrice as severe with him as with ourselves. We judge him by his per- formance, which is clearly seen to be faulty, while we judge ourselves by our intentions. which. while uHdoubt- edly excellent, often result in no per- formance at alL
 Our Judgments of our fellow men are too often based on ignorance and are l therefore apt to be untrustworthy. I may be praising Smith for virtues that Smith really never had. Similarly. 1 may be condemning Jones for acts which, properly understood, do not ap- pear so black. There may be alle- viating circumstances that are hidden from my view. Every life dwel1s in a 5n r1Nfl Trafo k-.~M eyes may peer. What purity, what honor, what facilities are sometimes present where we least expect such qua1itiesi The most mysterious thing Every man lives two nves-the one | that all the world may see and corn- ment upon, and the other known only to the man himself and God.
 Few of us indeed ars clear visioned enough morally to sit in judgment on another. Seeking to pull the mote out of our brothers eye we fail to perceive l the beam that is in our own The judge who assumes to sentence the criminal must see that his own robes are unspotted. When they brought to Jesus of old a woman taken | in sin he looked about on the circle | of cruel perSecutors and said: '.Let him that is without sin among you cast | the first stone at her" No stone was ! thrown because no person in the mob ! AA00 any AAAO4 1CGlS6 10 InTOW
 Our virtues are carried proudly be- fore us where we can behold them, but our faults are behind us, On our backs where other people can see them. Honest self examination would be for most of us saving grace
 Q wad some Power the giftie sie us l To see ourselves as ithers see us
 It would fra monie Q blunder free us
 And foolish notion.
 -
 h Ia, after alf, better to be severe with oneself than with ones neigfbor
 One person pre- eminent1y in all this world you have to make Rood-and
 that is yourself. To beat down Gatar
 under your feet. to bring the unrsiiy forces or your own life under control
 to beautify your soul and fit 1t foI
 heaven. that Is task big enough foi
 the average man. Doing that we efral
 find only sympathy for our brothe,
 in bis similar struggle and little dis. position to criticize or condemn him.
 THE PARSoN.