Are you squint?

So this other day, many years back, I was sitting at Rhapsody's having coffee with my cousin when two people asked to join our table since there weren't any more tables available. We agreed without hesitation and before long conversations were just flowing. At some point I was left alone with one of the people who joined our table and all was well until she said to me "Did you know that you're squint?" It was as if someone had slapped me out of a light sleep. I could not believe that the squint woman at my table was asking if I knew that I was squint. She was very squint, and the whole time I had said nothing about it. I then asked if she was just joking. When her sister came back and found us talking about the issue of her squintness she quickly shhushed me and explained that no one had ever told her about it. Even her whole family told her that she was perfectly fine.

I really didn't have a problem with how squint she was, and it wasn't a problem until she accused me of being squint. This reminds me of some people in the bible that Jesus spoke about also. He put it this way: "And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye?" Luke 6:41

That squint lady waited until it was just her and I on the table and proceeded to accuse me of my squintness. That means that she had been looking and scrutinising the state of my eyes for a while. We need to be honest with ourselves about this issue. We don't want to read good news when we open the newspaper or gossip column, no, we want to hear how Pastor "this and that" was caught naked with his blessee... we scrutinise our fellow congregates and wait for the moment they fail or are overcome by that challenge they battle with... We even scrutinise our own siblings or family members to say "I told you he/she wasn't right for you" or "that job wasn't meant for you"...

"And why do you look (please underline LOOK) at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye?" I do believe that the Lord would rather have us focus on self-introspection. We all have a speck in our own lives that when it has been removed, our testimony shared in love with help our brothers and sisters remove the specks in their own lives.

My Peace I give you - Shalom