HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!

This week I was reading in the book of John chapter 9. In this chapter, Jesus heals a blind man by rubbing some clay on his eyes. The man had been blind since birth and the disciples asked the Lord, "Master, who did the sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be manifest in him." I think this scripture can be read on multiple levels, but when I first read it, I was reminded again of how quickly we evaluate and make judgments of things and people. In school we are bred to work quickly making evaluations of problems and fast judgments. To some extent I think this spills over into other aspects of our lives.
We may jump into a situation not weighing the circumstances, we may say something without thinking and later regret, but I think the most dangerous mistake we make, as illustrated here from the disciples, is to make judgments of people before we get to understand them. As part of common belief of the time, the disciples believed that this blindness was a curse from God for either the man's sins or the sins of his parents. As Jesus clarifies, neither the man nor the parents committed the sin, but the man suffers blindness in order for some purpose of God to be fulfilled.
I remember being in France when hurricane Katrina hit the southern United States and New Orleans was buried in water. I was teaching a devoutly religious family, when the mother said, "Those sinners in the south of the United States needed a wake up call! God was behind that hurricane." I remember thinking, well if that's what God does to all sinners, we're all in serious trouble.
I think that after a natural disaster, disease, accident, suicide, or war people want to find some meaning behind it, some manifestation from God that his hand was in it. Although I believe God can and does intervene in peoples' lives on a regular basis, He loves us enough to let us suffer through our own difficulties. If injustice (sometimes severe, sometimes less severe) is dealt, God will deal justly with that person or people, but he will rarely step in and prevent it. We need to make our own decisions here on earth, and sometimes those decisions can lead to seriously detrimental consequences for ourselves and others.
A common practice among members of the church that can be used for both good and bad is reproving. Judgments need to be made by those who are in authority to make them, but so often, judgments are made by those who have no authority or reason to make them. We are our brothers' keepers but we do not and cannot tell people how to live their lives. In love, we can tell someone that their actions are hurting us, or hurting them, but once we begin to exercise unrighteous dominion we are in danger. D&C 121:43 says that priesthood holders, or those who are in authority are allowed to "Reprove betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterward an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved..." (emphasis added).
Passing unfounded judgments upon others is one of the most detrimental practices we can do in the church and has led to thousands (maybe millions) of inactive members of the church. Again, as I've said before, Christ's mission was to the downtrodden, and those who were rejected by society. We ought to show them the same love and respect that Christ showed them.