Planks and Specks

Writing is one of those weird things where it’s easy for me to see the mistakes that others make. I’ve been a professional writer for years now, and I teach writing classes at the college level, so every error my students make stands out like big flashing signs screaming at me.  It’s even worse when I read a book and spot a misspelling or a punctuation mark out of place because there are supposed to be professionals going over these things with fine-tooth combs.  “Who publishes this rubbish?” I often snicker to my wife.

Yet when it comes to my own writing, I often make mistakes and miss my own errors all the time.  I can’t even count the times I’ve read over some paper, article, or story I’ve written months or years ago, and I spot a misspelling or a grammatical faux pa.

Sometimes I wonder if this is the sort of thing that Jesus is talking about when He says, “"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3)  

Read the rest of the article in today's Proverbs and Wisdom.