In his book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey tells about a subway ride where he was seated next to a man who seemed totally oblivious to his unruly children running around causing a commotion. An exasperated Covey suggested rather gruffly to the father that perhaps he should do something about it.

The father replied: “Oh, you’re right. I guess I should do something about it. We just came from the hospital where their mother died about an hour ago. I don’t know what to think, and I guess they don’t know how to handle it either.”

Covey wanted to slither under the seat.

Jesus says: “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment” (John 7:24). Or as another translation puts it: “Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly.”

Easier said than done, though, eh? Case in point.

One Sunday morning I had just come back from church in time to grab some lunch before the cafeteria at the student residence shut down. As I started eating, a scruffy-looking guy sporting a wrinkled short-sleeve shirt with bright pink flowers looked up and down my three-piece suit and said: “Where did you come from buddy, a funeral?”

In a slightly self-righteous tone I retorted: “Well, if you knew anything about church, you’d realize exactly where I came from on a Sunday morning.”

To my utter surprise, he reached into his pocket and promptly produced the bulletin from the church service he had just attended.

By now the runny eggs on my plate had raced all the way to my face.

I’d like to say I learned my lesson at that point and never ever judged anyone else by mere appearances. NOT!

I still need to pray regularly: “Lord, let me not judge by mere appearances; please help me judge correctly.”

How about you?