"Charge them with crime upon crime;
A poignant meditation by the Forward writer today. He is in prison for killing a man in a barroom fight. "It's so easy to shut others out of life--especially when they're so easy to fear and hate and they've been so wrong...There are at least two sides to every story. I can only imagine what it's like to be a victim of a terrible crime. I know what it's like to be a prisoner, to be shunned, ignored and to long for forgiveness.
What to do with people who offend us has long been an issue. I wonder what the best answer is."
This man has found Jesus and his meditations on the daily lectionary are insightful, helpful, and mostly joyful. This one is a departure for him. And it makes me think about how our answer has been increasingly one of hate and revenge and vilification. Children killing children and then doing hard time with adults. What does that say to society? What does it say to children? Where is Christian mercy and forgiveness? We have swung from the rights of all to the rights only of the victims' families, who are encouraged to hate and vilify. How would I feel if it were my child or grandchild who was killed? I hope I would be like the father who went to see Timothy McVeigh to forgive him.
Dear Lord,
5:26 AM
do not let them share in your salvation.
May they be blotted out of the book of life
and not be listed with the righteous." Psalm 69:1-23
These are hard, and age-old, questions.
Keep them in front of me so that I can learn
what you would do.
Save me from the time of trial
And deliver me and mine from evil.
Deliver me from the evil of others,
but also from the evil of hate.
Keep me bathed in your love and
forgiveness,
So that I can love my enemies
and forgive them.
And be with the children, the children
who are incarcerated, the children who
are victims, the children who are
so tormented that they kill.
Dear Lord, what is the answer?
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