I know the one thing that would never change This is a pretty pic taken two years ago on the Berkeley campus of the University of California. Pammy and I were visiting our friend Dave (that's him with me on the bench) and we were lucky enough to have some spectacularly gorgeous days during our visit there. It was early October and temperatures were still in the high twenties. Awesome trip.


Another book I've been reading recently is a book of stories called Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal. I found this passage to be rather insightful and thought-provoking:

Judgment does not only take the form of criticism. Approval is also a form of judgment. When we approve of people, we sit in judgment of them as surely as when we criticize them. Positive judgment hurts less acutely than criticism, but it is judgment all the same and we are harmed by it in far more subtle ways. To seek approval is to have no resting place, no sanctuary. Like all judgment, approval encourages a constant striving. It makes us uncertain of who we are and of our true value.

I think it would be an extremely challenging task to try and get rid of all feelings of judgment about others. It's almost counter-intuitive to imagine that feelings of approval for another person are still a manner of critical thought.  | ¶ 1:58 a.m.