Danger: Conclusions Being Drawn

(Snazzy little drawing found here)Several recent events have reminded me that human beings have a terrible propensity to draw conclusions that are false. I think we need to remember that we are all witnesses, and that means that the most we can hope to do is to perceive a person or a situation from our own perspective. We should be wary of our own tendencies to judge a person or situation.

If you are a person who instinctively draws conclusions, as I do, maybe we should make a pact that we'll always label our conclusions as "theories," not "the way things are." Even if you're downright sure that such-and-such happened because you saw it with your own eyes, or because a credible person told you about it, you'll be much more fair to the people involved if you'll say to yourself, "It sounds like such-and-such happened, but that's my theory."

For example, let's say that Stentorian Peter tells me that Snivelly Jacob criticized him in a mean, underhanded way. Listening to the story and knowing my own experiences with Stentorian Peter and Snivelly Jacob, I can just "see" what happened. I fill the picture in with my own experiential background, paint in some bright colors and highlights, and there we are. Stentorian Peter and Snivelly Jacob are firmly set in the picture, halos and highlights well-developed, and the picture is complete. The problem is, there are all kinds of experiences and inner thought patterns that influence Stentorian Peter's retelling and my hearing. And even had I been there and witnessed the interchange, I would see only the tip of the iceberg. I would not see what had provoked Snivelly Jacob, nor would I see the past life experiences that were guiding the thought patterns of Stentorian Peter. I would not see what had happened that morning in their lives, how their other relationships were going, how they were feeling physically, what was worrying their hearts, or what their mamas and papas had said to them in their childhoods that were coming to bear on this specific interchange. And I might only be dimly aware of all the experiences and thought patterns and childhood messages that were influencing my own thought processing of what I was seeing and hearing.

We can be very sharp toward others in our judgments. We can be very wrong. We tend to listen to our friends and believe what they say about others, even though they also can be very sharp in their judgments and very wrong. There is always missing information--always. We've all had those "aha!" experiences--some of them embarrassing, or at least they should be embarrassing--when we learn "the rest of the story" about some person or situation we had completely misjudged. And I suspect we've all been on the receiving end of someone's misguided, critical and sharp judgments of us.

So why do we not learn from those "aha" experiences to quit drawing conclusions?

Matthew 7:1-5 (Message):

Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt? It's this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.