May 29 Med...
To self: Today, be mindful of Mercy.
Showing mercy for someone like a child who robs the cookie jar is very easy. Showing mercy for a mass murderer something entirely different. It's hard to get my head around the mindset of Dylann Roof for instance. What misguided demons must have plagued that young man's head...and life?
Do we need to even be concerned with mercy? Let our laws and courts decide? That's what they're there for, right?
Think today on the character trait of mercy. Is it critical to our existence? Essential? Can a civilized society exist without it?...or with it?
Hmmm.
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In His Chair
by D.A. Brooks
He sat alone in his own little chair
Twiddling thumbs, matted, greased hair
Child with kind eyes, a gentle being
In his life, still clearly the Spring.
A single parent, no Dad to lead
Alone was the lad, to dress and to feed
Most days she labored, six until six
The TV his parent, his life in those pics.
He grew into anger, direction so muddled
Missing a touch, or a warm gentle cuddle
What will become of such a sad life
So empty of love, abundant with strife.
He sat alone in his own little chair
Twiddling thumbs, matted, greased hair
The boy with wild eyes, a violent being
In his life, still clearly the Spring.
For his arrival, another chair waits.
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"Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends."
- J.R.R. Tolkien,
The Fellowship of the Ring
"I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice."
- Abraham Lincoln
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Hebrews 4:16...
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.