HPK #3: What I Think About You . . .

More "zingers" from Hidden Power of Kindness:

"Natural proneness to judge others by ourselves is a weakness of our fallen nature.  You decide that a certain person is impolite, another is self-centered, selfish, and unsympathetic, and another is arrogant, unfair, untrustworthy, and pleasure-loving.  You arrive at such conclusions by reflex judgment.  You know situations so well from personal experience that you conclude immediately that others have acted as you have done.  At once you brand others with unworthy motives and sinful deeds.
Everyone who comes within the reach of your knowledge is, as it were, on trial in your mind."

"You cannot judge a man by his fialures; you must judge him by what he makes of them.  A man's inner greatness is often tested not by what he does when the public gaze is fixed upon him, but by what he does quietly and steadily."

"It would be unreal to grow blind to evil, but you must grow to something higher and truer than just a quickness in detecting evil."

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Fr. Tighe gave a great sermon about judging others on Good Friday.  He mentioned that we often get discouraged and distracted when we see people coming in droves for Easter and/or Christmas who never come to Mass the rest of the year.  However, he turned the focus back on the faithful church-goers.  He chided that if our love of Christ, our devotion, and our spirit of hospitality and charity is not sincere and contagious enough to inspire the "Chr-easters" to return every Sunday, than we are the ones who should be ashamed.

I think the same switch could be made whenever I look at others with a less-than-charitable eye.  Perhaps they would not act that way if I had set a better example or shown more attention or care when needed.  Most of the unpleasantness in undesirable social situations is the result of my own thoughts.  If I was to kindly overlook small faults, verbal missteps, contrary habits or opinions, and unconventional behaviors and focus instead on the person's many positive attributes, how much less onerous would those interactions be!