Judge Not Lest...

This morning I had to check my bank statements and discovered that my son's WOW (World of Warcraft) account was still active, i.e. the monthly fee had automatically been taken from my VISA. I was steaming (he was still asleep) -- upset that he'd promised to stop after the one month, and devote more time to his schoolwork, upset that I'd been duped (no need to again go into why I'm sensitive on that score....), upset that he was back on that thing, and addicted to it.

Since it wasn't time for him to get up yet, I figured it would be good to start morning's devotions. I'd started Matthew and was halfway through the Beatitudes. Today, Matthew 7, verse 1, jumps off the page: Judge not lest you be judged...

OK, still fuming, I try to figure out what that's supposed to mean to a mother who has to take some kind of leadership role.

When he got up, I had on my not amused at all face, and said we need to talk. I have checked my VISA statement continues I, grimly. Yeah? says he, looking a little wide eyed. Your game is on it....

Turns out they automatically take it off, he didn't cancel til the day after. (Either that or he's one helluva good con artist, but he's not old enough or jaded enough to be able to pull that off.)

Loosely translated, judge not for today's lesson is "jump not to conclusions."

Lying is a Virtue Now?

OK, call me old-fashioned but since when has lying been considered a virtue, or a necessary and healthy milestone in a child's development?

This morning in the Star, Minay Venon's column discusses a new study from U of T that says lying could very well be a sign of future success. We all hate it when politicians lie, and when lawyers lie, and when anyone else lies -- so why would we find a way to rationalize children lying?

There are tons of ways to be creative, without having the short ones lie their way to success. Next we'll hear that little girls should learn how to sleep their way to the top.