Blinded by our own prejudices," he said, "circumscribed by
our own ignorance, we dare to set ourselves up as censors of our
fellow-men. Unable to see the whole chain of life which God has forged,
we take a single link and say that it is faulty. Too narrow to see His
broad plan, we take a patch of it and say, 'This is not good.' There is
One who works even through evil that good may come, but we take the sin
of our brother, and, without seeing or knowing what went before it or
shall come after, condemn him. What false, blind, petty judges we are!
You women who are condemning your fallen sisters, you men who are
execrating your sinful brothers, if Christ to-day were to command, 'Let
him who is without sin cast the first stone,' look into your own hearts
and answer me, how many of you would dare to lift a hand? How many of
you have taken the beam out of your own eye before attempting to pluck
the mote out of your brother's? O ye pharisaical ones, who stand in the
public places and thank God that you are not as other men, beware,
beware. The condemnation that surely and inevitably shall fall upon you
is not the judgment of Jesus Christ. It is not the sentence of the
Father. It is your own self-condemnation, without charity, without
forbearance, without love; 'for with what judgment ye judge ye shall be
judged.'

"Stand by the wayside if you will. Draw aside your skirts in the
vainglory of self-righteousness from the passing multitude. Say to each
other, if you will, 'This woman is a sinner: this man is a criminal.'
Close your eyes against their acts of repentance, harden your hearts
against their pleas for forgiveness, withhold mercy and pardon and
charity; but I tell you of One who has exalted charity into the highest
and best of virtues. I bring you the message of One whose judgment is
tempered by divine love. He is seeing you. He is hearing you. Over the
parapets of high heaven the gentle Father leans waiting to take into His
soul any breath of human love or charity which floats up to Him from
this sin-parched world. What have you done to merit His approval? Have
you been kind, or have you been hard? Have you been gentle, or have you
been harsh? Have you been charitable, or have you hunted out all the
evil and closed your eyes to all the good? You have forgotten, O ye of
little faith, you have forgotten, you without charity in your hearts,
and you who claim to follow Christ and yet have no love for your
fellows,--you hav