There's been discussion about whether or not we ought to forgive the gal who knowingly and with purpose not only - - I don't know what to call what she did; not sure I know any words that bad - - the President of the United States but most of the rest of us as well.
See, the thing is that one of the consequences of her deliberate baiting is that she ended up with more on her line than she was fishing for.
Am I the only one who sees the irony in the fact that for the first time I can remember Democrats and Republicans are apparently in agreement?
Yes, it's a an anomaly ... but ... maybe it can be used to begin building that bridge?
Not saying anomalies will become the norm, but every tiny little one counts.
Me, I think I would forgive her on the grounds that she's probably unstable, which is perhaps an unkind thing to think about someone I never met and hope to never meet.
The post right after this one, that I wrote yesterday, speaks of mirrors.
The image in that mirror I talked about is one of horror. Those who have to look into that mirror will want to turn away from it because they will be horrified by what they see in themselves. It's hateful and repulsive, true enough. Glad I'm not down in that pit with them and that's a fact.
Today, there's another mirror in play.
Do those of us who have to look into our own mirrors want to see something that's just as bad in its own way?
Because I'm kind of afraid that when I look into my mirror I might see somebody cold, somebody I don't want to see there.
Unforgiving is not a good thing either.
It's not up to me to condemn anybody; that's Somebody Else's area of expertise, not mine.
I'm entitled to my opinion, just the same as we all are, and the choices that have been made by too many of us are in my opinion appalling (to understate).
While I'm happy that I don't have to look into the Mirror of Horror, I don't want to look into the Mirror of Unforgiving either.
One of the things that's stuck in my head over the course of my journey of learning these past few years has to do with the qualities represented by the Mother in the stories I write.
Her 'things' are Justice, Mercy, and Peace.
The three always follow the same order.
Justice, in this particular case, has been served.
And even though the culprit is unrepentant, maybe our next step still ought to be Mercy.
Because forgiving isn't letting the guilty off the hook; it's letting ourselves get past what's happened so we can find Peace.
There is no Peace in vengeance or vindictiveness.
Just sayin'.
First Justice, which is rarely pleasant (okay, never pleasant).
Next Mercy, which is probably even more difficult to achieve than Justice.
But without those two coming ahead of it, there will be no Peace.
The thing about Mercy is that it must be freely given, and don't expect anybody to ask for it either, or appreciate it.
No, Mercy is given not so much for the benefit of the receiver as for the good of the Merciful.
See, maybe this one incident is a sort of microcosm of a much larger issue.
You can bet your boots that while it may be relatively easy to show Mercy and forgive this guilty woman, the rest of the equation might prove to be a lot more complicated.
Nobody gets 'off the hook'. That's the Justice part of it. And the strange thing about Justice is that it always comes, even if the route it takes might seem a mite odd. You and I may or may not be a part of that whole thing; most often we aren't.
But the Mercy part - that's purely individual, up to each and all of us separately to Choose.
Before you think I'm being altogether too 'sweet' here, I'm not.
Forgiving is NOT condoning. It is NOT 'giving up and giving in'. It is NOT a sign of weakness. It is NOT tacit permission for the guilty to continue doing what they do.
Forgiving and Mercy do NOT include forgetting.
Mercy does not precede Justice, but follows it.
Mercy does, however, always precede Peace.
So that's my take on it.
This one woman's actions have earned her the Justice she's received from unexpected sources.
The same sort of thing happened in a different way on a different stage last year.
Whether or not there's repentance is kind of moot.
Every infraction gets Justice. The ones who keep doing what they do can expect to be served Justice, time and time and time again, maybe in ways they can't fathom and that none of us plan (although some things really do have relatively set consequences).
Once Justice has been served, we get to Choose each and all for our own selves how we will proceed.
When all is said and done, how will we Choose?
No, we can't expect contrition, because it's not likely to happen.
Justice will take its course before it's our turn to make our Choice.
Just think about it is all I'm saying.
Peace is not easily come by. For the vast majority of the history of humankind it hasn't happened. I don't expect it to happen now either, not really. Because the Justice part of things generally seems to dominate our world stage. I think maybe the Peace we all seek can only be found within our own selves, and it is sufficient if you can manage to find it and hang onto it.
Maybe it's like those concentric circles. The outside, biggest, most visible one is Justice, the harshness that always seems to entail. Inside of that outer circle would be Mercy, the individual Choice we all make. And at the center is the inner Peace we all want to find. Who knows? Into my mind comes an image, one of the most ancient of rock carvings. It's those concentric circles - and there's a line that goes into (or out of?) that center, through the outer circles. Could it be that line represents not only the journey it takes to get to the inner Peace but equally important (or more so?) that we can't really tell if the line leads in or if it leads OUT ... maybe we're supposed to find that inner Peace, which makes sense, but we aren't supposed to 'hang onto it' but carry it back out along that line through the Mercy line and the Justice line?
Ach.
Enough philosophy. Those concentric circles have any number of meanings, depending on what is needed.
Just show Mercy and forgive the bloody woman (no pun intended, but there it is) for your own Peace of mind. She's had Justice meted out in no uncertain terms and is likely going to get more. Going ahead with Mercy this one time is, I figure, good practice.
Here's a poem I read a long time ago and finally found again:
Myself
by Edgar Guest
I have to live with myself, and so,
I want to be fit for myself to know;
I want to be able as days go by,
Always to look myself straight in the eye;
I don't want to stand with the setting sun
And hate myself for the things I've done.
I don't want to keep on a closet shelf
A lot of secrets about myself,
And fool myself as I come and go
Into thinking that nobody else will know
The kind of man I really am;
I don't want to dress myself up in sham.
I want to deserve all men's respect;
But here in this struggle for fame and pelf,
I want to be able to like myself.
I don't want to think as I come and go
That I'm for bluster and bluff and empty show.
I never can hide myself from me,
I see what others may never see,
I know what others may never know,
I never can fool myself -- and so,
Whatever happens, I want to be
Self-respecting and conscience free.
No comments:
Post a Comment