Have a nice day…

“This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it,” entoned Rev. Robert Schuller at the beginning of each broadcast of the Hour of Power. When the warrior-king-poet-musician, David, wrote those words in Psalm 118 I wonder if he was having a “nice” day.

As a follower of Jesus I am trying to learn to live the “commandments of Jesus” as contained in the Sermon on the Mount. One of those commands is, “Judge not.” If you are familiar with the Myers-Briggs Personality test you know what a “high J” person is, usually a big pain in the, uh, neck! They have an opinion on anything and you don’t have to ask to obtain their feedback.  Lately whenever I “judge” anything, I am starting to remember to pray the Larry the Cable Guy prayer, “O, Lord, please forgive me for that, that’s not right, and bless the pygmies in Africa,” ‘Git r done!

You see, I can’t afford the second part of that commandment, “Unless you want to be judged yourself.” (Charlie Wear paraphrase). I’ve made enough mistakes, failures, and have enough people extremely irritated with me that I can’t afford to be doing much judging myself.

I especially get irritated at drivers who swerve around me when I am hightailing it down the highway at about 75 miles per hour! Sometimes they honk! Really? If you are in such a big hurry, why not find the crematorium you have picked out in your well-planned pre-paid cemetery package and go park outside of it! Early! That way you will be on time for your own immolation. Just because I drive like a senior citizen with a light foot on the accelerator in order to save on fuel costs, is no reason to flash me the Hawaiian sign of peace and love when you pass me buy red-faced, eating a breakfast burrito and texting with your other hand, driving with your knees!

There I go again, “O Lord, please forgive me….etc.” ‘Git r done!

Being judgmental robs me of my joy. And that’s not good for me. I want to learn to be like our dear brother, St. Paul, who wrote, “Rejoice in the Lord Always,” and in case you didn’t catch that, “Again I say Rejoice.” I think living a joy-filled life requires a forgiving attitude that takes into consideration another party’s story. This is what I am asking the Spirit to work on in my life. Today! Anyway, “Have a day!,” and enjoy it, if you can.