Day 83: While Running

I look at people's houses and judge what kind of people are inside. Nice houses = nice people. It doesn't even have to be an expensive house, just well-cared for, something that shows me they try to create beauty around them. I am really good at rationalizing this judging behavior. I figure that people who do drugs don't care about houses or beauty, they have let go of everything but the need for their next fix. I've been told this is true. The trick is that they could be living with their parents. On the other side of the coin, just because a house is not well-cared for, doesn't mean that the people inside are not nice or do drugs. I know some really good people who don't care for their houses. My house sometimes looks pretty sorry itself. I think that I want to judge because I want to feel safer. I want to feel like I am wise. I want to feel like I will know if I am in danger so I can protect myself. I think God wants me to realize that the basis I use for judging is inadequate -- no matter my justifications. It really is only God who knows the heart of people. Because of that, I should not, I can not judge right. But at the same time, when I leave the judging in God's hands, I find a new avenue for safety. God's safety is the safety I should trust in and not my own!