Judgment--Every Hour, Every Instant
January 1, 1970
Sometimes judgment (in the sense of punishment and reward) is thought to be something
rather remote – something that will happen ultimately, but not necessarily now – such as the “day of judgment” associated with heaven and the hereafter. But judgment doesn’t wait entirely for the eternal future. It comes in many ways, whether we know of it or not. In some ways we judge ourselves every
day, every hour, every instant. “A man cannot speak,” said Emerson, “but he judges himself. With his
will, or against his will, he draws his portrait to the eye of his companions – be every word. Every
opinion reacts on him who utters it.” We judge and classify ourselves constantly by what we choose to
do with our time, our means, our money, by the people and places we prefer, by the choices we make of
all of life’s activities and offerings. We are, in fact, a living reflection of all that moves in our minds, of every thought and act and intent. And what we are, essentially, inside ourselves, is in itself a judgment. What we are, judges us as surely as water seeks its own level. Some things may seem to go undetected. But none goes unrecorded or unjudged, whether we know it or not. And while we do not know by what process God, our Father, our ultimate Judge, will appraise and reward and punish, we can know that
when the record of our life is rerun, when our thoughts and acts and words are brought before us, we
shall sense what we deserve inside ourselves (even as we now do in some degree) and we shall need no outside accuser. We know now when there is peace and approval inside we know when there is an inner uneasiness. We judge ourselves constantly – “in silence and certainty.” The only place a man can find
real peace is inside himself, and it that is what he wants, he must live to deserve inner peace and
approval.