An idea that challenged me this past week was that the error of judging people by appearances is but a step away from me. In fact, I caught myself doing it two separate times. The thinking that "I would never do that" is no guarantee that I won't. In an abstract sense, that's really the idea ... that I'm not immune to doing what violates my better judgment.
Of course I know judging by mere appearances doesn't make sense. I've been told this fact many times, and I've seen it repeatedly. The essence of what makes people who they are is not visible at first glance. What makes people valuable can't be captured by a snapshot.
But I know I did it. I made conclusions about someone based on nothing more than appearance. What is surprising is that "I should have known better" doesn't necessarily mean that I "do better."
One thing that helped me realize my error was to engage further with people and realize that my first conclusion was embarrassingly shallow and irrelevant to the significance underneath.
So I need to guard myself consciously about repeating this error, to train myself to look beyond mere appearances to see what is really there.
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