“Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all I possess.
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Luke 18:10-14

Every once in a while I have been critical of someone’s shortcomings.
For example, I thought my amazing sister-in-law didn’t quite have the whole parenting thing under control when her son, who was born a year before my oldest, was going through a biting stage. While she was at her wits end, I just smiled and thought of all the books on parenting I had read and what a good teacher I was and wished I could pass my massive amounts of child-rearing knowledge on to her so that she could be at peace.

Fast forward a year later and my son Jonathan was biting everything and everyone in sight like a vampire shooting expresso. Lesson learned.

…until I noticed a friend’s dingy shower floor. (more…)