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"Judge and Jury Syndrome"

On page 447 of the NIV Couples' Devotional Bible is a devotional by Kathy Tippett Henderson called "Judge and Jury Syndrome." She writes of an event witnessed at her local swimming pool. I hope it's not violating copyright to paraphrase it here:

Apparently, a teenage girl at a beginners' swimming class made a show of being afraid of the water. Her instructors patiently cajoled her, causing the author to wonder why she was being "pampered." Finally, they were able to slowly lower the girl in, while holding her tightly. The author was thinking it was about time when an instructor sat down and informed her that the girl had been involved in a boating accident the summer before. Her family had been out together when their boat capsized. Though her father was able to save her, she saw her mother and brother drown.

The devotional asks whether we've ever discovered that our perceptions of someone's attitudes or actions was wrong, and what we learned from this.

Comments

I can't count how many times I've arrived at a supposition about a person or situation, only to have reality smack me upside of the head. Unfortunately, I've come to realize that my suppositions tend to be a projection of my own attitudes and typical responses to things. I'm trying to learn to at least remain neutral, giving people the benefit of the doubt (or assume right motives) until more information is available.

Posted by: j a n at April 17, 2008 8:43 PM
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