the two school girls.
two little girls came home from school one day carrying on a very lively discussion. their animation, and their complete absorption in the subject were very inspiring to see. one could not help but thrill at the manifestation of buoyant, interested, and healthful youth. but when they came into the house, and their mother overheard the nature of their conversation, she was woefully disappointed. these girls were not discussing the problems raised by their lessons; neither were they rejoicing at the prospect of the coming girls' hike to the canyon. in fact, the subject of their animated discussion was neither uplifting nor invigorating. on the contrary, it was disgusting—so thought their mother; and she was sorry to hear her girls indulge in such conversation. for the girls were gossiping; nay—they were slandering.
the theft.
it appears that someone had lost some money that day at school. the loser declared, however, that she had not merely lost the money. it had been stolen! the principal had called the pupils together, and had stated the case plainly to them. he had said that if anyone had actually stolen the money, it would be much better for the thief to confess than to be discovered, or even successfully to conceal the dishonest act. such a thing would leave a scar upon one's character for life. but no one confessed. the lost coin was not found.
{206} the suspicion.
our two little friends, however, had observed that mary jones, who sat not far away, acted very suspiciously when the principal came into the room. she turned quite pale, and looked afraid. when the principal appealed to the offender to make a clean breast of his guilt, mary had hung her head. was it not proof positive that mary had stolen the money; or that, at least, she knew where it was? at recess, and after school was out, the girls had talked it over. they had confided their suspicions to a few intimate friends; these in turn had confided in other intimate friends; soon the whole school was in possession of what was assumed to be a fact, that mary jones had stolen the money, but that she would not confess. the two little girls who first suspected mary had grown firmly to believe their suspicions, and assured their mother that they knew that mary was the thief.
the discovery.
the developments of the next few days, however, proved to these little girls how much truth there really is in the little bit of doggerel verse their mother had taught them.
"there is so much that is bad in the best of us,
and so much that is good in the worst of us,
that it doesn't behoove any of us
to talk about the rest of us."
poor mary jones suffered keenly for three days. both the boys and the girls shunned her as if she were a leper. the girls huddled together and whispered when she passed. once a rude, unfeeling boy called after her, "why don't you 'fess up, mary?" but mary had really nothing to "'fess up," and on the third day {207} the truth came to light. out in the hallway, the janitor noticed something shining in a little crack between the boards of the floor. it was in the afternoon, and the light coming through the transom of the west door fell just then upon the spot. the janitor stooped to see what the shining object was. it was money! he pried it out with his pocket knife. it was of the same denomination as that which had been reported stolen. immediately, the janitor returned it to the teacher with a full explanation.
the tables turned.
it is strange how things turn and turn about. when the money was returned to the girl who had lost it, with the janitor's story, she remembered that she had been skipping there in the hallway, and that she had thought she had heard something strike the floor; but since she had seen nothing she had forgotten it. the girls who had suspected mary and had shunned her, now flocked about her and assured her that they had never believed her guilty. the two who had started the slander stood shame-facedly apart. the school turned on them, and for many days they were avoided, and were shut out of the school games, as mary had been. they were mischief-makers, said the pupils. it was only after mary herself had pleaded for them, that a complete reconciliation was effected, and the school society moved harmoniously forward as before.
an everyday occurrence.
you think that this is a story? yes, it is a story; but it is a true story. and the sorrowful thing about it is that just such unkind and unfounded judgments as that formed by the little school girls are passed every day upon {208} innocent men and women. you yourselves pass judgment, without any evidence on which to base that judgment. you condemn your playmates for this or for that. you find fault with what your parents do, not knowing the many problems they have to solve. you criticize the bishop of your ward, or the president of your stake, or even the president of the church, without knowledge of a single item of the vast amount of information which he has and which compelled him to do as he did. it may be that some of your associates have faults. those faults stand out glaringly enlarged to you. you are offended by them. you are prompted to criticize, or to try to correct the defects. but you forget that you may have faults as glaringly apparent to your associates as theirs are to you. you do not stop to think that the little girls who suspected mary jones were also guilty of a grievous offense in judging and condemning without cause. you forget what the lord jesus taught, "why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? or how wilt thou say to thy brother. let me pluck out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye. thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."
the mote and the beam.
is it not simple and common sense? how can a man see clearly to correct the faults of others, when his vision is distorted by his own faults? have you ever set a stick into a pool of clear water? have you noticed how the stick has been distorted in size and shape? the light {209} waves passing from water to air, or from air to water, are refracted, bent, so that you do not get a correct image of the object immersed. just so is it when we, who are immersed in our own faults and weaknesses, attempt to pluck the mote from a brother's eye. our vision is defective; the image is distorted; we are ourselves in worse condition than our brother.
what jesus said.
jesus set himself strongly against such unkind judgment as that passed by the two little school girls, and as that we are tempted every day to jesus pass upon our neighbors. "judge not," he taught, "that ye be not judged. for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."
here is sound philosophy, of which few men stop to think. it is easy to pass judgment on others. it is easy to think that one is the center of the universe and that all things else revolve about that center. it is easy to think that one's own opinion is always right, and that the opinions of others are wrong. but one should not forget that others also hold opinions. it is almost certain that one will be judged as one judges; and that one will have measured to one as one measures to others.
now, what jesus points out is that the spirit of fault-finding and criticism is to be condemned. one cannot correct the faults of others until one has corrected one's own faults. one cannot even get a good hold on one's self, and find the right estimate of one's self, until one learns to see only good in others, and to {210} struggle with one's self to overcome faults. moreover, fault-finding and criticism, like anger, hate, and envy, destroy one's peace of mind. one who judges and condemns cannot possibly maintain mental and spiritual health. harsh judgment is far more hurtful to the man who exercises it than to the man whom he judges.
"judge not!—thou canst not tell how soon the look of
bitter scorn
may rest on thee, though pure thy heart as dewdrops
in the morn.
thou dost not know what freak of fate may place
upon thy brow
a cloud of shame to kill the joy that rests upon it now.
judge not!
the references
matt. 7:1-5.
the questions
1. what was wrong in the action of the two little school girls?
2. why is it wrong to find fault, and to criticize?
3. what did jesus say about the mote and the beam?
4. explain jesus's saying, "judge not that ye be not judged."
5. show that it is the spirit of fault finding that is sinful, rather than the act.
6. who is most injured: the man who criticizes or the man who is criticized?
