At the "Awakenings" group last night we talked about labels and viewing people as a child of God rather than through our perceptions and judgments. A story told me by a friend of mine who was a psychologist came to my mind after the session. During his internship, my friend worked in a state maintained mental institution. Most of his patients were there not by choice but by incarceration or involuntary commitment. He told me that each day working with the patients he imagined the well whole person within them and spoke only with that person. No matter what the body did, he imagined himself communicating with the well person who was trapped inside. If I were to translate this to church language I would say communicating with the pure soul within the person. If I imagine myself as a pure soul, and the "other" as a pure soul, I stand a better chance of interacting with them without judgment. We may all have to act out our rolls, including disagreement with actions or protecting society from the results of certain actions, but we carry out those rolls as part of the dance of two souls, learning about God through our interaction with each other.What am I to learn? In my interacting with those society might label as monsters, I learn about my own dark side. I contain within myself components of each characteristic I admire or hate in others. When I acknowledge that without judgment, I can begin to relate to the "other" appropriately without judgment. I never really judge another, I only judge myself. That's how I view it.