Conscious Judging
Read John 5:22-30 The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. John 5:22-24
As the Father relates to the will, the Son can relate to thinking. By including these words that Jesus spoke John is ensuring that we understand that judging is no longer cosmically impelled; our judging now arises through our personal thinking. This places demands on us to be rigorous in our thinking. A reason for errors of judgment is that thinking is not carried through to the end. It is so easy to jump off the train of thought prematurely. Early conclusions are so tempting, not to mention the time that they save. Lucifer always encourages us to take the easy way out.
While striving to judge wisely it is good to remind ourselves that disharmony and error are essential components of the process. Mistakes are instructive; they can strengthen us if we are not defeated by them. Mistakes take the soul beyond the limits of daily life. Harmony is disrupted by disharmony and then harmony is restored, like a concerto being played in the soul which gives it a thorough work-out.
Judging is an integral part of daily life. The longer judging is delayed, the freer we are of the automatic, unconscious processes in our soul. Of course, we cannot always delay judging, but even the smallest delay invokes consciousness. The health of our being relies on the continual effort to create a space for new thoughts, new ideas and new actions. Above all, we should strive for the inner strength to be as peaceful as possible and to refine our emotions. All these balance our judging.
The quality of our judging is directly linked to the health of our soul and the strength of its connection with our I AM. “The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son”, says St John. The Father also represents the puppeteer controlling us from the spiritual worlds. The Son represents the I AM which now has responsibility for all our judging. Every time we place responsibility outside ourselves we deny our I AM. Every time we jump off the train of thought before it has reached its final destination we reject the I AM.
On the other side, every time our judging is appropriate a power is released. Rev Mario Schoenmaker, speaking about the woman caught in adultery, said this: “What issued from his mouth had power – “I do not condemn you”, he said, and the woman was free.
Refraining from hasty judging is a mighty responsibility. Can we know the karma behind certain situations? Something which seems reprehensible to us could be the basis for a great cosmic deed. Sometimes the greatest disharmony can be resolved into the greatest harmony.
Bias is always the enemy. If we can strive to be impartial, resisting the pull of sympathy and antipathy, our judging will be true, wise and helpful. We may never know the freedom we bestow each time we resist the temptation for haste in our judging.
The I AM is the active principle in our being. Through it we take control of our progress from life to life. It is the I AM that expresses itself in understanding and in the judging that continually takes place in our life. With Right Understanding and Right Judgment we harmonise the disharmony from the past and we strengthen our soul forces. The more our I AM has the right relationship with our body and soul the more our values are refined. Without the right relationship our judging is premature and we are unconscious of the damage that we do. We will face this damage after death and have to deal with it in another incarnation (as in this life we deal with our judging from past lives).
The more refined our values the more deeply we consider our judging. We will never act without thinking and all our actions will be meaningful and deliberate. This is the Right Judgment Buddha spoke of.
We can even see that the Father no longer needs to judge, human beings do more than enough of it. The way the Son will judge is as the Lord of Karma. A conscious decision to delay judging can make good the hasty judging of the past. We can hear him say, “I do not condemn you” and the power that issues from these words can free us.