RECIPROCAL JUDGMENT

There are a wide variety of laws. Traffic laws, tax laws, criminal laws to name a few classifications. There is one set of laws though that trump all others and are probably the least understood, cosmic laws. Unlike Man’s laws, cosmic laws are never amended or appealed. The law of gravity, the law of unintended consequence, the law of attraction and the law of retribution are some of these. They are totally impersonal and are impervious to all the methods man uses to avoid, evade, or change the laws we put on the books. The law of retribution comes into play when we pass judgment. Some teachers have postulated that all judgment is bad, actual bars to spiritual progress, judgment only identifying the person passing it as someone who needs to judge. This is only a half truth at best. Let’s play the “what if” game: 1.You are looking for a daycare for your child. You meet a seemingly kind and loving person who runs a daycare but when you arrive at their facility you are greeted by poorly maintained grounds. Entering you see children playing seemingly unsupervised, their faces and hands dirty and there is the unmistakable odor of dirty diapers in the air. 2. Your teenagers behavior has begun to change, and not for the better. New “friends” are showing up and their old friends, some lifelong, are no longer coming around. When you ask about them you are greeted at best by a clearly BS reply to an angry “it’s none of your business” “it’s my life” as they scurry away to the sanctity of their room, which is off limits to parents without invite. 3. Your spouse’s behavior has changed. They have become distant, spending more and more time away from home and when they are home they seem to be daydreaming, only partially present. They have little interest in doing things with you or the family.

Passing judgment is unavoidable, as is the law of retribution. Now, make no mistake here, the law cuts both ways. When we judge well we reap the benefits. Consider the oft misstated Christ teaching on judgment: “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1). The teaching is not about avoiding judgment but to address our own shortcomings before we point out another’s. “Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye”(Matthew 7:5). Living on the Spiritual Basis we address the planks in our eyes and our vision clears. Does this mean we are better or more advanced than anyone else? To believe so invites painful lessons into our lives. In the three examples above a judgment will be passed, action will be taken, for good or ill. Judge well and the universe responds, judge poorly and the universe responds. The choice is always ours, Living on the Spiritual Basis our choices are consistently better, for our consciousness has been raised, and on those occasions when we choose poorly we have a clear cut path for cleaning up and clearing out our mistakes, with love.