Susan Boyle: Did You Pre-Judge Her Too? I Did.

Ok, you've probably already seen the video on TV or the internet and heard commentary on Susan Boyle, who blew away the audience and judges on the TV show "Britain's Got Talent" which is similar to American Idol and also has Simon Cowell as one of the judges.

If you haven't yet read about the 47 year old unemployed church choir volunteer, who's never been kissed and who took a chance on being embarrassed in front of millions in an effort to live her dream. Well, live it she did.

I could spend hours trying to write my own post on this, but this article in the Britain's "The Herald" newspaper by Colette Douglas Home says it better than I ever could.

"The moment the reality show’s audience and judging panel saw the small, shy, middle-aged woman, they started to smirk. When she said she wanted a professional singing career to equal that of Elaine Paige, the camera showed audience members rolling their eyes in disbelief. They scoffed when she told Simon Cowell, one of the judges, how she’d reached her forties without managing to develop a singing career because she hadn’t had the opportunity. Another judge, Piers Morgan, later wrote on his blog that, just before she launched into I Dreamed a Dream, the 3000-strong audience in Glasgow was laughing and the three judges were suppressing chuckles.

It was rude and cruel and arrogant. Susan Boyle from Blackburn, West Lothian, was presumed to be a buffoon. But why? ..... (Click here to read the rest of the article).

Oh, you're one of the few that still haven't seen the video, or now that you've read the background, you want to watch it again? Here you go, soften your heart, grab your kleenex and be ready to cheer!



Susan reminds me in some ways of my 17 year old daughter Caitlin. Also, a special needs child as Susan was, Catie works hard at all that she does, she must, she has no other choice. Things that are easy for the rest of us, such as reading and comprehension, are for her, so very hard. She loves Broadway plays like Susan, such as Wicked (she has seen it 5 times), Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables, which Susan sings her song "I Dreamed a Dream" from. And she often dreams dreams, that I, in my practical sense deem unrealistic for her life.

Susan Boyle has shown me that I am the one who has who has been limited in my thinking. I am the one who has judged incorrectly. I am the one who judged prematurely, as I did when I started watching Susan's appearance. I thought this was another poor soul about to be laughed at by millions, unaware how foolish she looked. But it was I who was the foolish one.

A lesson pointed out thousands of years ago in the Bible:

1 Samuel 16:7:

⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

And what springs from the heart are hopes and dreams. So how about you, do you have a dream? Are you perhaps now willing to Take A Chance? If so, let me hear about it, if you dare. Susan dared!

Eaar