Judging Matters

My grandmother, Mama B, always cooked by feel. We could never get accurate measurements out of her for a recipe. Not even for those amazing buttermilk biscuits!

However, when it comes to judging other people, measurements matter. The Christ says this in Matthew 7.

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

01 Look at people through clear and healthy eyes - the eyes we talked about in episode 7.

02 Don’t look for micro issues while ignoring your macro issue

03 We don’t have the right to determine the value of another person

04 Don't be surprised when people see you in the same light as you see them

We dive deeper into those in this week’s video. Plus, we also talk about what this means as well…

6 “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

Click here to watch.

Avoidable Suffering

You’ve probably heard, “Pain is unavoidable. Suffering is optional.”

What is suffering?

MEntal suffering is the chasm between the MEaning I desire and the negative narrative I am inventing. 

We may say, “I don’t have enough money!” When we struggle to pay the bills. 

We may react with, “I can't believe I am paying all these taxes!” When we have plenty of money. 

Two opposite conditions but suffering with both. 

Most suffering is manufactured based on the MEaning we give stories we invent in two dimensions…

01 - Memory Myths

Suffering arrives when we retrieve and relive something harmful or hurtful from the past. Some of us do not even have to retrieve it; we carry it all the time.

Balm: Review the event or thought with the focus of love and growth, but do not relive it. Do not replay it with emotion unless it’s joy and peace. Write down three ways you are grateful for that hurt and feel love toward the situation or person. 

02 - Future Fantasies

Suffering can also arrive when we imagine a bad outcome or a spiteful outcome. 

We can create hundreds of suffering scenarios. Our minds of MEaning swirl with all the possibilities. “What if….” can consume our thoughts.

Balm: Be present and write down… “My mind is consumed with ________ (scenario or person). I am causing myself to suffer because I ______, and because I __________, and…” (continue down the page until you cannot think of another because.)

Then, look back through the list you’ve made. Which of those things is 100% true and would stand up in a court of law, not just in your mind or heart? Most likely, zero. Rest in the fact that those are non-truths.

This week, I recorded a few videos about avoidable suffering. Primarily about the MEaning we bring to various conversations and circumstances and invite suffering.

Suffering Perspective: Is That It?

A Recipe for Suffering Soup

Time Travel Suffering

Blessings!

Paul

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