My parents were born in the 1940s. So, like most photographs during that time, printed pictures of them were only in black and white.
It wasn't until the early 1970s that color photography became prevalent. Therefore, many of the picture albums that I loved to look through when I was a little girl were mostly in black and white.
It seems odd to say this, but the “memories” I have formed of my parents during their early life are not thought of in color images, but in black and white, because that is all I have ever seen with my eyes.
I have a hard time picturing them in color when they were little.
Over time, though, things have changed. Today we can colorize pictures.
People like the Brazilian Digital Colorist, named Marina Amaral, started working to bring to life the black and white photos of the past with her amazing talent. She digitally colored a photograph of a young girl that was taken during the Holocaust around 1943. When she was done, you could see more humanity, emotion, and life than ever before.
Her blue eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep. There were dark purple bruises that rested on her cheek from abuse. You could even see the brown dirt in what was left of her shaven hair.
In the black and white photos, I could not see it before. In a sense, she revealed what was overlooked. She brought to light what was hidden in plain sight.
How often do we as Christians do that?
Sometimes it is easy to look past the depth of a person and form an opinion based only on what we can see. While it is not the right thing to do, it is certainly a typical thing to do as humans because it takes less effort to look at someone and "assume" what we will about them rather than take the time to get to know someone.
Some people love to state the well-known, yet often misinterpreted scripture that says, “Do not judge others.”
Scripture does say that in several places. But it doesn't mean that we should never form an opinion about someone. We have to! We have to be able to judge right from wrong, good from evil, godly from ungodly.
"Do not judge others" means that we should not judge the character of a person without the full and honest knowledge of the person that they are.
When we use personal judgment in that way, we can guard our lives from people who will have a negative or ungodly influence on us.
John 7:24 says, “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” We are to observe the truth through observation and wisdom. We are to examine the "fruit" in the life of others before we make a judgment. (Matthew 7:16)
We should take the time to learn and truly know the things hidden under the surface of appearances, so that we are just in our judgment.
Just as the digital colorist brought to life what was in plain view already, so should we ask the Lord to help reveal to us the true nature of those around us so that we may judge rightly, for "in the way we judge, we will be judged as well." (Matthew 7:2)
Dawn Hayes is mother of 4, grandmother to 3 and she and her husband pastor at New Hope Assembly of God in Senatobia. She has been writing “Sips from the Well” since 2015.
