The Sun had gone down. The sky was blue; the breeze was gentle, cool, refreshing. I had strolled up the spiritually enriching hill counting the holy beads glued inside my palms. After a refreshing moment at this Mount of Transfiguration, I obeyed the inner voice to go down to the foot of the hill.
Standing before me were two young people- a girl and a boy- with sharp contrast of elegance and ruggardness. The first impression was that they were together for consultation. As soon as I signaled to them to come up, the girl clearly distanced herself from the boy and marched forward alone. She greeted respectfully, poured her afflictions and received counselling with humility and gratitude. She left with a conspicuous avoidance of the boy.
It was the boy's turn. Then came a sermon mixed with smile: "Fr, this girl even comes to church. I hope you didnt listen to her? That girl is bad o." Just at that point I couldn't hold it anymore: "How do you know she is bad?" He replied: "Do you know where I normally see that girl and the type of people she goes with?" Instinctively I dished the silencing question: "What do you normally go to the bad place to do?" The next I heard was: "Fr, I am sorry." Then blabla followed.
In his mind, I was defending the girl. In his mind I may be one of the girl's friends. But what I saw was a replay of two elders accusing Sussana for foiling their advances in the Bible.
From the time of Socrates who was accused and put to death for teaching the youth virtuous way of life to the time of Christ who was accused, condemned and crucified for stealing the hearts of men and women with unparallel love to our own days, the World has been under the judgment of the evil ones.
In the Bible, some Elders brought a woman caught in the very act of adultery to Jesus and asked for his view given that law places death by stoning for such an offence. At first place, adultery is mutual sin involving at least two opposite partners. Jesus literally asked for the woman's partner in crime. That could have been one of the elders. If not for the timely deserting, the woman would have pinned their grievances with her. Partly could have been her refusal of their earlier advances. The elders represent a humanity of sinners who judge other sinners for sinning differently or excluding them from their club.
In the story of the Prodigal Son, the Elder Brother was terribly annoyed because his Lost Brother returned. He was serving his father with ulterior motive of what he would gain. He was happy his brother had gone astray; he would inherit alone the later fortunes of his father.
Secondly, he was neither holier. He wished and envied the freedom his younger brother. Had he his brother's opportunity, he would have squandered it on prostitutes. That is why, even though the story never said the younger brother spent the money on women, when the Elder Brother spoke, he accused his brother of having squandered the money on women. By adding an imaginary sin to his brother's charge list, he betrayed his desire if he were to have had his brother's opportunity. The World has been under the judgment of the evil ones.
In the complex relationship of personal lives, these dramas have continued to play out. We see it the social media where the 'righteous' condemned the 'bad.' While scrutiny is permitted on public office holders to the extent it concerns public policies and how they utilize our resources given to them on trust, their private lives should be private and privy to them and their spiritual advisers. Although it is worthy that they excelled above others in personal moral comportment, but when we pay much attention to that, we lose focus of where we are going; meanwhile, we are no better people to judge too.
Life has continued to offer ironies. The girl who wears traditional regalia for wedding because she is pregnant is not worse than the one who wears white wedding gown. It may just be that the former abhors abortion.
Take the social media here for instance; the most dangerous of all girls in the social media are not the so called slay queens. Not sometimes but always, that girl with low-cut may just be more dangerous than the one wearing Brazillian hairs and deep foundation as make-up. The partner celebrating his or her spouse photos on Facebook may be more dangerous than those we condemn for not being proud of their spouses on social media.
Sometimes, the judgments we pass on human behaviour are expression of our disappointed ambition. Sometimes, we dream of what we do not have. Sometimes, what we dream is possessed by someone else and we feel he or she is misusing it; but actually we are wishing that such gift should not exist if it cannot be given to us too. It is not out of virtue that we scrutinize those who possess personal gifts and talents and skills for fooling with their lives; it is envy.
Envy seeks compensation by wishing that we cannot possess should not exist even in another person.
The right way to begin is to pray for a higher gift. That is what St Paul recommends. When God has not condemned, do not condemn.