Pictures like these should 'stir up sorrow in the soul'

The easiest thing in the world is to judge something by what you see.

That is a superficial conclusion at best. Judgment by sight, rather than by insight, results in a short-sighted conclusion.

God, in His Word, encourages you to refrain from making conclusions based on your visual perception.

Rather, you are encouraged to move from the natural to the supernatural, or from the obvious to the not so obvious. Indeed, it is far too easy to conclude a matter before all of the nuances of that situation are examined in their entirety.

Oh, how easy it is to briefly see a matter and make your call or state your opinion.

It was on February 16 that the Bermuda Sun highlighted a picture of two women. One of those women negatively posed a finger on both hands.

Her demonstration and the demeanour of her stance in the photo would have you to believe that you are looking at a cocky and an I-couldn’t-care-less type of female. Indeed, as I logged on to Facebook and began reading a particular thread, I found that all of the folks who commented ‘fell” for what they saw.

There were many negative comments, which tore at the character of that woman and demeaned her no end.

In the midst of that, God reminded me that I should never judge a book by its cover. I was reminded to go further than what I could see. The scripture verse that came to my mind was:

1 Samuel 16:7: But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

I looked at that woman, being carted off to jail for over a year, and knew that the smile and the gesture that she was giving was for the sake of the camera and for the sake of her shame.

Think about this. Do you think that an hour later she was still smiling broadly and behaving as if she was about to enter a hotel for a spa treatment? Do you believe that if those same cameras were able to secretly take pictures of her, that those cameras would catch her behaving as if all was well in her world?

No, her outward appearance was simply a self-defence mechanism or a wall of protection against the true reality of her life.

That young lady has to deal with the fact that she has permanently scarred the biography of her reputation and her life.

The photo speaks and says, “I am confident and I have it all together”, but if you look deeper you would hear, “What have I done, and how will I survive this?”

I hope that Bermudians can look beyond the façade of confidence and see a person who has hurt her own future more than she ever planned.

Perhaps, that image can be a testimony of how many of our young people believe they have no hope, other than to risk their lives and their futures on a crime that is not only a crime against the law of the land, but also a crime against the law of humanity.

It is sad to know that the one crime of becoming a drug mule, carrying a life-poison, can result in you carrying a sentence of imprisonment. How sad when a high-risk results in the low-life of a prison environment.

Bermuda, do not allow such pictures to stimulate disgust in your heart.

Allow such pictures to stir up sorrow in your soul for a young adult who has chosen the wrong way and earned a prison stay.

There is no glory in such pictures; there is only gory. Pray that the prison experience transforms from being a major stumbling block into becoming a stepping-stone. It is not the end of the world, if lessons are truly gained. Blessings abound!