St. Stephen's Green

I'm not comparing myself to Jesus but please remember that he hung out with lepers and hookers and the Pharisees hated him. I think it's too bad that having a couple drinks at the pub would mark me out as something less than an active and striving believer. It kind of goes to show how our culture decides to view people. It's always from such a distance and fails to get to the core of the person which matters. The content of our conversation didn't become relevant until much later. I suppose that this was ALWAYS one of the biggest issues I had with my dad in my teen years. He would look at me and get upset because I "look like every other punk out there". OK, but I'm not and I know that a lot of people act how they look but I would rather give them the benefit of the doubt. If a Christian's duty on earth is ministry, how are you going to do that when you've already dismissed the tattooed, the piereced, the spiky hair, the tattered clothing. You know, non-believers judge Christians by lame and unrealistic criteria as well but maybe that's because they feel the wrath of the Christian first. My cousin was telling me that at a church out here in Tennessee some teenagers were turned away from church because the dude had an earring and the girl was wearing pants. It doesn't sound like that is an isolated occurrence either. I know the topic of judgmentalism has been discussed to death and we're all so enlightened now. Don't I wish... How cherry would it be to be able to be blind to people's appearances? I'm getting loopy now but what if everyone appeared so bright or dark that you couldn't make out features or what they were wearing or even how big they were. All you had to go on was their words and their actions. Wouldn't that change the world?! Anyway, I won't let my conscience be bothered by hanging out in a pub and having a conversation with depth...