Throwing the first stone

A friend of mine recently confided that he had shown poor judgment in his twenties, which resulted in a criminal record. As we discussed his mistakes, it made me think about my own life.

I remember times in my teens and early twenties when I stayed up too late, drove too fast, or ran a couple of stop signs to avoid the police after one particular incident. I also remember toilet papering homes of people I did not like. I believe today that would be criminal trespassing, and I wonder how I came out unscathed. I’m not saying that I robbed a store or did anything terribly illegal, but I crossed the line.

I thought of my friend. He crossed the line, but in his case, he was caught. The full weight of the law was brought to bear on him. If we reflect on our experiences that were “too close for comfort?” I believe that many of us may have crossed the line or walked pretty close to it, and if things were slightly different, some of us might be in a completely different spot if the law had become involved.

Since the time he got in trouble, my friend has since gotten married, has a family, and has tried to be a productive member of society. But his past still pops up from time to time. It’s like that time on one of my deployments when I almost got a tattoo. The tattoo artist had drunk too many beers by the time it was my turn, so I had changed my mind. It is still a fond memory as I hung out with some of my friends that I had been in combat with. I will say that I have seen that tattoo on a few of the airmen now, and it does not look nearly as cool now as it did then, so there is a hidden blessing there.

I am reminded of the scripture of a woman caught in adultery. She was brought before Christ, who was asked what he would do, how he would punish her? At this time, the enemies of Jesus were trying to put him in impossible situations, to make decisions that would be controversial and thus be used to discredit him. In this particular case, in KJV John 8:7, Jesus says, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” I love Christ’s questions in verse 10, “Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?” Verse 9 talks about her accusers being convicted by “their own conscience.” If we had the chance to turn the lens of truth on our own lives, would we be able to throw a stone? I believe that we would not, and we might look at one another with a bit more compassion and understanding.

My favorite example of compassion is found in KJV Matthew 7:3-5 “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.”

My kids quote this one a lot when someone finds fault in other. It can be pretty funny when the kids call attention to some of my shortcomings. They may mention my continued struggles with punctuality (my beam) when I point out a minor thing in them such as leaving on a bedroom light (the mote). It puts the matter into perspective and usually results in laughter in our home as we see the human frailties brought to light.

We are often blind to progress and change in others. Every positive effort to change our hearts and actions brings greater light and peace into our lives. Let us replace judgment with love. Instead of casting stones at others in their moments of weakness, let us follow Christ’s example of love and kindness.

Dr. John Boston is a father, husband, grandfather, local physician, member of the Mat-Su Board of Trustees and Colonel in the Alaska Air National Guard. He believes in Christ and is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.