a big stink

What does a skunk do when it feels threatened? It lets loose with a horrendously offensive spray from its posterior that can scare away grizzly bears, cause temporary blindness in other predators and nauseate humans. It's worth noting that skunks can spray with high accuracy up to 7 to 10 feet. Just another reason to keep your distance. You might not even be thinking about making the skunk your dinner -- the threat might not be justified -- and you get a face full of noxious chemicals anyway.
Last night we had close (enough) personal experience with such a stinky polecat outside of the house. I actually thought it was a natural gas leak, but then my husband opened the door and we knew the truth. Although we didn't see it, we certainly knew it was there and had been disturbed (even with doors and windows closed). The little guy was ticked off and letting the world experience his pungent displeasure. Because I muse about such things, last night's incident made me think about raising a stink in general.
What do you do when you've been dissed? Say someone you live with left his dirty clothes on the floor, another driver cut you off on the tollway, or your manager gave someone else the coveted assignment.
Do these folks know who you are? You are much more important than a maid.
Does that driver understand where you need to be in the next 10 minutes? You certainly deserve the right of way more than she does.
Does your manager know who he is dealing with? He's obviously overlooking your talent.
So you find some way to show your displeasure. You might raise a little stink and bawl out the offending housemate for his obvious inconsideration. You might make the univeral driver hand signal to convey your displeasure to the driving school dropout. A lesser person than you might think ill of the manager; worse yet, might share opinions about the manager's abilities in a less than favorable light. And the odor grows. The strong odor of judgment. Once uttered or even thought, it is hard to come clean. It permeates clothing, seeps in the skin. And what do we gain from allegedly defending ourserlves as we pass judgment?
Not much, according to the New Testament book of Romans. The second chapter begins:

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on
someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance? (Romans 2:1-4).

We are rarely justified in our judgment of others, mostly because we're just plain wrong. We think we know the whole story, but we don't; worse yet, we act on the story we think we know. The housemate may have been very ill when he left the clothes on the floor. The offending driver could be on her way to the hospital hoping she'll make it there before her husband dies. The manager was looking for a certain skill that, admit it, you just don't have. You and I have a very limited understanding of what's going on with our own lives, much less someone else's.

In light of this, I'll leave you with another passage that rings true and smells better than any knee-jerk reaction. Remember, the word speak can be interchanged with think and act in this case.

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen,slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. (James 1:19-20).