N is for . . . Non-judgemental

Image Courtesy: Raj Manchekar

My little ones,
Today we are going to talk about something that can hurt you and others, if you're not careful. N is for nail, in your book, La Niña.


Nails are the sharp, pointed, rod-like pieces of metal that are generally used for boring through wood or through a wall on which we would like to hang a painting.


While being useful in their own right, nails also have the power to hurt. Remember the nails that Our Lord let them bore into His hands and feet for our sake?


Our words and actions sometimes act as nails, hurting people that we don't like or don't get along with. That is why, I hope you will take to heart the importance of another N word: Non-judgemental.


There will always be people whose creeds, beliefs, ideologies, skin hues, bodily structures and other attributes we do not approve of. Things that they may or may not be in control of. Things that make us uncomfortable and itchy.


When that happens, we are quick to pass judgement. We lash out with words that become sentences, life sentences, that we pass upon those we see as guilty. Even our thoughts and silences hurt as hard as if we had hurled stones at them.


Of course, it is hard to strip prejudices of the permanent residency status they've gained in our minds. But why make them the default lenses through which we view the world?


Remember those cheap green heart-framed plastic glasses you had? How they made everything look green? But you didn't believe the world was green, based on that evidence. You took off those glasses to be sure of the truth.


If we accept that what we are is a composite of our experiences, our genetic inheritance and our intrinsic nature, we have no right to deny another person's right to being the best "I am" they wish to be.


We may not agree with other people's 'isms, but can we be mature and non-judgemental enough to refrain from pronouncing judgement? Can we remind ourselves that we all get lashed by intolerance and prejudice?


No child is born knowing how to hate, shun or fear. When I see your innocence, it re-affirms my belief that our hate and intolerance are acquired responses. We are born only with a capacity for love. We learn to hate as we learn to let the filth of the world settle on our clean hearts.


I pray that you may never allow pre-conceived notions to cause you to forget that we are all humans, entitled to life and its joys and sorrows, in the measure in which Heaven sends them.

My wish for you is that you may refrain from censuring those whose convictions and realities are different from yours, that you will bite your tongue rather than speak ill of another.

Remember His words, Judge not, that ye may not be judged.

That's all for today. O, how I wait for what tomorrow may bring!