Know Your Enemy (1 of 2)

There was a point for us when things were really rough financially. Prior to that we did okay, and God saw us through, but it was scary for a while.

I didn't have a "real" job for quite a while, but I was never really out of work for very long. That's because no wasn't an option to me. I often took crappy jobs that paid crappy wages. We caught s*** for that. Clearly if I wanted a job I would have had one.

We weren't proud of it, but we had food stamps. We've always been thrifty shoppers with coupons and ad watching. We don't buy garbage for food, we didn't before and we don't now. We caught s*** for that. People often and freely remarked that we ate better than they did. I imagine the judgment and eye rolling wouldn't have been any different if we bought junk for food either.

We drove a newer car, that was given to us by generous friends. We caught s*** for that, and "helpful" people suggested we sell the car, buy a less expensive car and then we could use the balance of any remaining money. That's both ignorance and stupidity.

We didn't go without cell phones or internet connection, because I can tell you as someone who employs people it's a bitch to find a job without those things. We caught s*** for having such luxuries.

When things finally started going better, we got a tax return. So we paid off the balance of our bills and because our only TV was broken we bought a flat screen. I got a hell of a deal on it. Yep, you guessed it, we caught s*** for that.

I didn't dress like I was poor, nor did my family. Of course we caught s*** for that. Over time that might have changed, but apparently people think those who are not steadily employed should sell their clothes to dress in potato sacks I guess.

People don't realize it but living with very little money is much more expensive than living with a comfortable amount of it. 

For some reason the poor become fair game for judgment and scrutiny by those who have not known the same, and everyone has some great unsolicited insulting advice or observations. I can't imagine they'd see the sense of either if they were receiving rather than giving it.

We can and do judge by appearance. Often appearance is all we have to judge by, what is the point of judging when it is not in discernment or discretion, but only your own pride that hangs in the balance?

We fill in a lot of the missing details with our own imagination in leu of facts. We become far more quick to judge than we are moved to help. But why?

I've also driven like s*** overcome by emotion because of the death of friends, or because I've had to get to the hospital. No one else could have know my situation. So I try not to judge people who drive like s***. I have no idea what they may be going through either.

And that is my point. 

Compassion is most often compelled by virtue of experience, and the conviction that comes with it ask something of us.

Judgment most often comes by those things lacking within ourselves and asks nothing of us.

Occupying ourselves with issues of others allows us to not only avoid addressing of our own spiritual self destructions, but it somehow makes  them a point of pride that "we" are better than "them".

We drive the wedge of selfrighteousness ever deeper in order to separate ourselves from the lowly feeble minded sinners.

Solo Cristo Salva
d(-_-)b