Some of you know that Sid and I have enjoyed “glamping” in our Winnebago View for almost 20 years now. We originally bought it partly because it was a dream of mine since high school to travel the U.S. in one, but also, so we wouldn’t have to leave behind our precious three pugs, hence the name the Pugabego. Now years later with no more pugs but a shaggy petite rescue terrier named Sofie, we travel to be with kids and grandbabies, attend Messianic Jewish conferences, and Camp Or L’Dor in our Sofibego a/k/a the Mitzvah Mobile.

When not actually camping but needing overnight parking we “boondock”. Last weekend when visiting our kids and grandkids we boondocked at the local Cracker Barrel which encourages RV overnight parking. The routine is just to find a spot where the RVs tend to park which at this particular location is a lot shared with Holiday Inn Express so is a bit larger than a typical Cracker Barrel parking lot.

When we came back to the Cracker Barrel on Saturday evening and nestled in for the night, suddenly the camper van next to us turned on its engine and just sat there idling. This is usually discouraged since it creates noxious fumes. Our windows were open since the evening breeze was delightful but the air coming in after about five minutes of this idling was not!

Sid said he’d give them five more minutes and then knock on their door. This really upset me! It was clear the camper van was owned by an older couple living in that van. I discouraged him from doing so reminding him that we don’t own this spot. We can just move. Rather than doing that or Sid knocking on their door we stuck it out with the windows closed. After a seeming eternity but probably another five minutes they turned off their van engine and we opened our windows again. We couldn’t figure out why it was on in the first place since no heat or air conditioning was even needed.

The next morning as I was looking out the window and meditating with our Creator I noticed an older woman parked in the next row over who was coming over to chat with the woman in the camper van next to us. My guess was our spot is typically occupied by that other woman’s camper and the two couples clearly were living out of these vehicles, not on vacay! Most likely the couple next to us was hoping their idling would cause us to move so the two couples could be next to each other. It was their community that we had most likely disrupted the night before.

As I was playing out this possibility in my head Sid headed to the dumpster with a small bag of our trash. As he walked by the lady across the way she asked if he’d take her trash too, which he did. When he returned I asked him what the lady was like and he reported she was very nice.

I was thinking how blessed that our Abba had given us an opportunity to be reminded of our tendency toward a sense of entitlement, and how important it is to intimately experience the economic realities of others. How quickly we rush to judgment and need to be reminded of the common humanity we share with all of God’s children. We all carry the same trash. We are all the same in His eyes. How merciful He is in withholding the judgment we so often deserve.

Even as all of these laudable insights were still percolating in my brain, the very next day I, too, fell victim to our human tendency to rush to judgment. My sister had sent me a YouTube video to watch of an interview of Jonathan Roumie (who plays Jesus/Yeshua on The Chosen) with Tucker Carlson. As much as I love The Chosen and Jonathan Roumie I must admit I wasn’t sure I could watch him if the interviewer was Tucker Carlson (no disrespect intended to those who like him). After prayer, self talk, and discussion, I gave it a try. The interview is powerful and I’m grateful that I watched it.

Clearly, I can be judgmental too and if I had followed my emotional reaction to not watch the interview I would have missed an amazing opportunity to advance my spiritual walk. Jonathan Roumie’s words overflowed with profoundly deep observations. It was as if he was still in character as Yeshua.

There is a proper place for judgment. It is not vis-à-vis our fellow life journeyers unless there is a need in order to thwart a wrong or injustice, neither of those being the cases here.

These are divisive times, and days of economic stress that can happen to anyone. These are days of overall stress, per se. How blessed we are when we keep our spiritual eyes and ears on high alert for lessons we are being given to be more like Yeshua, to be reminded of our human failings, to learn from them and to remember that we will be getting closer to His Way when kindness, gratefulness, and love replace entitlement and judgment.

I encourage you to sharpen your eyes and ears in the multitude of situations we encounter daily to be able to see and hear with your heart for that is where He dwells.

Shabbat shalom.

Diane