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Judge Not

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 20, 1908

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 85, No. 34.

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Judge Not

By Adelaide A. Procter

JUDGE not: the workings of his brain And of his heart thou canst not see. What looks to thy dim eyes a stain, In God's pure sight may only be A scar brought from some well-won field Where thou wouldst only faint and yield.
The look, the air, that frets thy sight, May be a token that below The soul has closed in deadly fight With some infernal, fiery foe, Whose glance could scorn thy smiling grace, And cast thee, shuddering, on thy face.
The fall thou darest to despise— Mayhap the angel's slackened hand Has suffered it, that he may rise, And take a firmer, surer stand; Or, trusting less to earthly things, May henceforth learn to use his wings.
Then judge none lost, but wait and see, With hopeful pity, not disdain; The depth of that abyss may be The measure of the height of pain And love and glory that shall raise The soul to God in after-days.
— Adelaide A. Procter.