Rambles on judgment and stale Starbursts

Judging.

We all hate it when other people judge us, yet we do it.

Like Q-dawg so eloquently puts it, we naturally judge...but we shouldn't condemn.

Case in point:  I know of some people dear to me who are in a tough situation.  Because I love them, I think about them often and wonder how that situation could be resolved.  I don't pretend to know what is best (although, I confess, I used to), but know that I could be in a similar situation in the future and so I think about it.  As my mind drifted to this situation again, thinking of something that maybe I would do in that situation, the thought came...

"That's why they were sent to the parents they were sent to, and not to you."

Touché.

My mind flew to what the day of Judgement might feel like, standing there, and finding out that what was being done currently in this situation was exactly the best thing that could be done...  That these loving parents who were doing things that seemed to fly in the face of my thoughts of "what would be best" for those involved might be doing just what was best.  Can you imagine?  Years of sitting in my own little "judgment seat" only to find that it was built out of straw?

I started thinking about Heavenly Father, and how I believe that He loves each of us so much that, somehow, He has sent each of us down to a specifically tailored existence, giving us the ultimate chance of happiness.  He knows each of us so well, and He knows what truths and experiences we need to have, to attain our own kind of happiness.  Now, like with my kids, when I offer them vegetables so that their bodies can be healthy and happy, we reject what is good for us in the face of the "happiness candy"...that which, like it's physical counter-part, cannot satisfy and is ultimately quite damaging.

Also, much like the benefits that come from physical exercise, the fitness and ultimate happiness of our souls must come after feelings of stretching, exercising, exhausting and laboring in less-than ideal situations.

I see people like Elizabeth Smart, who overcame obviously less-than-ideal situations and who rise up to serve others and be a light.  I see people like Salva Dut from Sudan, whose life is written about in "A Long Walk to Water." I see people like Hitler who chose the spiritual opium of power, and cringe at the price they must have to pay at that self-same Judgment seat.

This life is truly a test. Do we really want to live with God?  Do we really want to pay the price of submitting our will to His, that price of trust, that will bring ultimate happiness?  Like little children who think that our parents aren't watching, we do some crazy things with our precious gift of agency :). 

I am reminded of sneaking into the cupboard at my grandmother's house and sneaking the stale Starbursts out of the cupboard, thinking "no one is watching."  How easy it is to pretend that there is no God in Heaven who sees our every deed!

And, you know something? Those Starbursts were not that satisfying :). 

Note to self: I have enough to worry about trying to "chew my own stale Starbursts" without judging others!