It is said that the favorite pastime of the Filipino is either to have a free meal and or talk about other people’s lives. In fact, talking about other people’s lives is a human reality. The Irish have a saying, “the smaller the town, the deadlier the talk.” Another quote says, “It is easier to dam a river than to stop the flow of gossip.” Also, the Jews have a proverb, “What you don’t witness with your eyes, don’t witness with your mouth.”

In the Gospel, Jesus talks about the source of gossip, character assassination, slandering and loose talk – Judging. 

Three things before Judging.

1. Do we know the whole story? Just imagine that because of a single event or a single experience or a single moment, we have made a judgment on the entirety of the person already. 
   
2. Do we not have our own skeletons in the closet? Who among us is perfect? Who among us does not have deficiencies in life? Do we talk about others and pull them down only to feel much better? 
   
3. Three persons get hurt. When we judge, we hurt the person that we judge, we hurt the receiver of the judgment and we hurt ourselves. All our lives are intertwined, and it all comes back to us.

Let us remember the saying, “Do not judge a book by its cover”, as we ourselves would not appreciate being judged. Practicing kindness and getting to know people for who they really are, will go a much longer way in contributing to a peaceful society.