There are certain words in our language that just have negative connotations almost as soon as they are uttered. Their reputation proceeds them, and no matter how hard one might campaign on their behalf, they will probably always be received with a cringe.
"Audit."
"Accident."
"Emergency."
When you see or hear those words, your reaction is almost a reflex. You start to brace yourself for some news that is not good. Right? What about the word "suspend?" When you were in school, and you heard the word "suspend," what feelings were associated with it? Does your stomach drop to your shoes? Most sports fans never want to hear any form of the word "suspend" associated with any of the members of their team.
sus·pend [suh-spend]
to debar, usually for a
But "suspend" also has some other meanings that are not negative at all:
to hang by attachment to
This last definition is why I think that this word has gotten a bad rap. To suspend one's judgement. This is something that we ask of ourselves and of our staff everyday. To suspend our judgements of people and situations for long enough to allow God to speak about the persons or situations is part of the greatest commandment given in the Bible.
Love God...and love your neighbor.
It can be a difficult thing to do, because it is our natural leaning to set ourselves up as judge, so that we can either feel better about ourselves; justify our thoughts, words, and actions/inactions, or have the illusion that we are in control of a particular situation.
The rub is that we suspend our judgements of most everything we believe in thirty minute to two hour increments in order to be entertained nearly every day.
Yet, we won't suspend our judgements of people...what they wear, what they drive, how they talk...for thirty seconds in order to see them or hear them for what and who they really are...
A miracle...
A gift...
Just like you...and me.
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