> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.tom-shaw.uk/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Judgement is Inevitable. Offence is Optional. - URL: https://www.tom-shaw.uk/judgement-is-inevitable-offence-is/ - Published: 2025-03-31T13:01:37.000Z - Updated: 2025-03-31T13:01:37.000Z - Description: A response to "Sinner To Saint", and why we are all exactly where we need to be. - Author: Tom Shaw - Tags: Reflections, #substack, #substack-type-newsletter, #substack-access-everyone, #Import 2026-10-24 12:50 Credit to [Midnight](https://open.substack.com/users/80534720), whose following note sparked me to begin writing this piece: I was ready to jump in and write a comment, and then I stopped. I realised there was something far greater opening up for me that deserved its own reflection. So that’s what I did. So let’s talk about judgements. In many ways, I believe us judging others (and projecting those judgements on to others!) is an inevitable consequence of the current social climate. Right now, we’re in a dehumanised world that brings with it ample psychological and social trauma. Couple it with social media platforms with incentives to amplify the sharing of judgements, it’s a deadly combination. [Production Line Sonnet![](https://cdn.mymidnight.blog/a14ac55a4f27472c5d894ec1c3c743d2/substack-post-media-s3-amazonaws-com/public/images/c307d39e-3048-4ec9-b511-12a1a31ba9aa_800x800.png)Tom ShawTom Shaw![](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1583737097468-2cc78bea3c29?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwzN3x8cHJvZHVjdGlvbiUyMGxpbmV8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzE0NDE5MjYwfDA&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&w=1080)](https://www.tom-shaw.uk/production-line-sonnet/) Our souls have picked this difficult time to come to Earth for a reason - [we were ready for the challenge](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XinVOpdcbVc&ref=tom-shaw.uk). Many of us are supposedly in societies with access to technology that’s meant to be the pinnacle of human achievement. Getting the material stuff sorted is the easy bit. However, the rational objectivism of the past few centuries has encouraged to believe that the material is **all** that exists. We’ve chosen to come here because the desecration of meaning and of the divine that has ensued as a result is one of the most difficult challenges our species may ever face, precisely because the answer does not lie in the material. In my eyes, wanting to pass judgement on others, or experiencing a sense of judgement, is our soul’s way of telling us that there’s something unresolved ***within*** us from our past that needs our attention. At this time in history, we are all being called to be most skilled shaman of our inner realms, precisely because it was us as a species who defiled the role of the spiritual healer. Delving deep within, to our psyche and our spirit, we must heal a wound not just for ourselves, but for generations to come. We must, so that they, in turn, are more resilient should they ever find themselves in a similar position again. This is why we are here - and why we have judgements. I don’t identify as a Christian, and I still agree with the Christian sentiment that Judgement should be reserved for God - because God, as I understand, lives **within**. When a judgement is passed from somebody else on to us, we are tempted into *sinning* by passing our responding judgement onto that person. In this context, *sin* is the perfect word; the original definition of *sin* means “to miss the mark”. In passing judgement onto another, we indeed miss the mark, because the real calling is to take that judgement and head within to see where it comes from, and to bring an unconscious pattern of ours into consciousness and into the light. [Subscribe now](#/portal/signup) Likewise, something that [Lara](https://open.substack.com/users/102761853) brilliantly pointed out when I was discussing these ideas with her is that this applies when we pass judgements on ourselves as if we were someone else. The times where we create stories about what other people might think of us and how they will respond, we’re doing exactly the same thing. The call here is to find the version of ourselves we are holding in contempt—the source of our judgement—so we can forgive them and release them from the role they are in. For me, forgiveness comes in when I realise that me and everyone else is still on their own journey to work out how to take their judgements within. Everyone is at a different stage in that process. In fact, the inevitability of encountering people who pass their judgements onto us, to me, says that this is **intentional**. There is a potent Christian analogy that holds wisdom in understanding this, The Book of Job, something both Carl Jung and [Paul Levy](https://www.innertraditions.com/books/undreaming-wetiko?ref=tom-shaw.uk) took great interest in unpacking. [Our Uprootedness![](https://cdn.mymidnight.blog/a14ac55a4f27472c5d894ec1c3c743d2/substack-post-media-s3-amazonaws-com/public/images/c307d39e-3048-4ec9-b511-12a1a31ba9aa_800x800.png)Tom ShawTom Shaw![](https://cdn.mymidnight.blog/a14ac55a4f27472c5d894ec1c3c743d2/substack-post-media-s3-amazonaws-com/public/images/180345d0-3865-463b-bfeb-184024dd6747_1080x1080.png)](https://www.tom-shaw.uk/our-uprootedness/) As I understand it, God allows Satan to create hardship for Job because the encounter with evil is what Job needs to become the hero of his story and to recognise the divinity and power of himself. God is challenging Job to see the appearance of evil as a corrective mechanism for where we neglect our humanity within, and to not succumb to a victim mentality and the turmoil and disharmony it creates. What this story holds for us in our modern condition is key: ***offence is optional.*** We are the ones with the choice. We either act out of our triggered state and feed the darkness in the absence of love, or we realise it is a sign from the universe that we are out of alignment with our true nature. Here, we must honour that evil is showing us where we are stuck in our lives. The more offence we choose to take, the greater and greater the disturbances in our lives become, until we finally experience something great enough to force us to reconsider. ![Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov is the final selection for Slate's great books club.](https://cdn.mymidnight.blog/a14ac55a4f27472c5d894ec1c3c743d2/substack-post-media-s3-amazonaws-com/public/images/760480a8-d30e-47cc-b48f-ffdd41f8e593_1180x842.jpg) Portrait of Fyodor Dostoyevsky. This is one of the many layers of meaning that Dostoyevsky’s tale of *The Grand Inquisitor* as part of *The Brothers Karamazov* holds for me. In the Inquisitor becoming so blinded by the insecurity that humanity (and himself!) was “not good enough” to make good on Christ’s blessings, it necessitated Christ coming back to kiss him in an act of unconditional love, then to leave with the door open for the Inquisitor still to follow his footsteps. The “sinning” of the Inquisitor has encouraged Christ to re-emerge in his life, so that he may now take that judgement he passes on humanity and go within to find the freedom that he needs. In this regard, it feels fitting that [Midnight](https://open.substack.com/users/80534720) has chosen to title her Substack [Sinner to Saint](https://open.substack.com/users/1686852). With that, we have come full circle. We have been given a gift: the chance to play our part in the cosmic drama unfolding. Either we get caught up in the stage-fright of other people’s judgements and let it consume us, or we use it to deliver the most authentic performance of our lives, transmuting the circumstances of our existence into an art that elevates ourselves and those around us. And if we don’t get it the first time, that’s okay. Our soul is simply waiting for the right time and teaching us what we need to look out for next time. When I’m finding myself surrounded by judgement, I know I’m exactly where I need to be. You are exactly where you need to be too. Judgement is inevitable. Offence is optional. --- Thank you for taking the time to read this piece. Leave a comment if it sparked something within you. [Leave a comment](#ghost-comments-root) While I have a new poem on the way for the next week, in the meantime, I’m pleased to announce that you can now buy my three poetry books as one bundle direct from my store, with shipping available to most places in the world. ![](https://cdn.mymidnight.blog/a14ac55a4f27472c5d894ec1c3c743d2/substack-post-media-s3-amazonaws-com/public/images/7962a43c-54b8-4867-8778-757bd729d7bd_1280x1280.jpg) Every purchase helps support my work massively. If you’re looking for a way to enjoy my works outside of the digital realm, this is it! [Buy Now](https://tom-shaw.uk/product/poetic-trilogy/?ref=tom-shaw.uk) I look forward to bringing you more poems and writings soon. With gratitude, Tom ![](https://cdn.mymidnight.blog/a14ac55a4f27472c5d894ec1c3c743d2/substack-post-media-s3-amazonaws-com/public/images/d7ad98bd-d84d-449b-b6b4-7b040410d9c2_750x990.png) [Subscribe now](#/portal/signup) [Leave a tip](https://tom-shaw.uk/product/one-time-donation-or-tip/?ref=tom-shaw.uk)