A Pilgrim's Journal

Kids being kids, they promptly start to obey, but soon forget the details in their exuberance for life. Soon there is running, which causes some fine china to break. One child takes the other's toy or book, and crying ensues. Chores are left for later, and the house is a mess. When you arrive on the scene and question them about it, they deny any wrong doing. When the logic hits them and they see you can't be fooled, they start pointing fingers at each other, making sure you know that the other is the worse.

When you confront your children of their error, what behaviour would you rather see?

Suppose you are a judge, listening to a divorce case. The case is rather brutal, and you've had to use your gavel a number of times when the husband and wife cannot contain themselves and start shouting at each other across the aisle. You hear many stories, some inflated, some true, of infidelity, ignorance, backstabbing, and revenge. Each spouse knows their partner's faults by heart, but are blind to their own.

During the trial, what realization would you rather see?

Suppose you are driving to work. You're a little late, so you're speeding, but still being careful. You roll through some of the stop signs on the way, but you don't put anyone in danger.

While cruising down the highway, you look over to the car next to you and see someone talking on their cell phone. As they pass you, they turn on their signal and nearly cut you off, trying to get to the exit that they almost missed. Muttering under your breath, you swing out into the passing lane to avoid this unconscious driver. As you do, another car catches up to you and begins tailgating you, flashing his lights urgently trying to get you to pull over. There is about a foot of space between your bumper and his.

The stress takes over and you lose it, tapping the brakes and slowing down steadily, trying to teach this guy a lesson. You make sure that there are cars beside you so he cannot pass, slowing down to a crawl, while he creeps ever closer to your back bumper, lights on highbeam.

In this series of driving infractions, what realization should you have kept in mind?

Suppose you are a king, and you have a servant who owes you 10 million dollars. You summon him before you, and demand that he repay at least 25% of the amount owing. You remind him that he hasn't made a single payment since he borrowed the sum. He confesses to you that he doesn't have that much yet, but if you would be patient, he is sure that his business strategy will turn around and he will be able to pay you in full. You suspect that his business strategy is not going so well, and you note that he has already built himself a nice house, taking care of himself before his debts. So you give the order that his house, his car, his pool, his bank account, and his business be sold to pay the debt in full.

This command obviously shocks him, and he falls down on his knees, begging and pleading for mercy. He pleads with you that his wife and family would leave him if he became destitute, and he confesses that he has not managed this debt properly. He begs for a little more time.

You recall that he has always been a friend of the crown, and while his money management skills are lacking, his other qualities do shine at the right time. A wave of mercy overtakes you, and you cancel the entire 10 million dollar debt and send him on his way.

Overjoyed, he thanks you profusely, and leaves your palace with a spring in his step, a lightness of heart, and a hope for the future. He determines that he will never, ever, ever get himself into such debt again, and he rushes home and takes stock of his finances. He sees that one of his employees, his limo driver, owes him $1,000 for an old beat up car he had to buy in order to get to work. The man stands on his front steps, and meets his driver, holding up the I.O.U. and demanding payment. The driver pleads for more time, saying that he barely has enough to pay all his bills, but he is making progress, and will pay it all off as soon as he can. This doesn't satisfy him, though, and he fires the driver, and claims the jalopy as payment for the debt.

When you hear of this, as the king, what would you rather have seen?

And finally, suppose you are a Jew, a Muslim, or a Christian. Your holy book, which you read faithfully every day, contains great wisdom. It tells you how to live, how society should behave. It tells you how to treat your neighbour, and how your neighbour should treat you. It tells you the consequences for not living right, and sometimes even tells you the punishment that should be inflicted on those who do wrong. You try very hard to live by these rules, these laws. Your life is a glowing example. You give to the poor, you pay your debts, you tithe to your synagogue or mosque or church. You wear the right clothes, you say the right things, and you are confident and almost proud of your achievement. And while you know in your heart that you don't keep all the rules perfectly (but really, who can?), you content yourself that you're doing pretty well, overall.

You see in your same congregation another man who is not so successful at living the Jewish / Muslim / Christian life. This man drinks a little too much, has a lot of debt, gets fired from his job, or maybe even cheats on his wife. He has suffered a lot of embarrassment, when his faults become obvious to all. He keeps quiet, and doesn't talk much about his faith, due to the shame of his own failures.

One day, this man does something shocking. Maybe he steals from you. Or maybe he is found in a brothel, or with your wife. Whatever it is, his shame is complete, and his fellow Jews / Muslims / Christians are shocked, horrified, and tell him he needs to get his act together. They point to the scriptures from their holy books, and show him how he has sinned, how he has failed to live up to God's standards. Some even stay away from him.

You realize that you haven't obeyed your holy book perfectly either, but you burn with judgment against your fellow man, especially because he has injured you somehow, by stealing or adultery.

As all this is going on in your congregation, and you are doing your best to be forgiving, another congregation from a different Jewish, Muslim, or Christian sect publically claims to denounce your beliefs as wrong, and decides to burn your holy books on a special day. This infuriates you, and you get your fellow men together and decide to burn their holy books as well, and their flag. What follows is much back and forth, shouting, burning, and possibly looting.

As God looks down on all this, what do you think He would rather see?

If you are a child in the wrong, does it make sense to accuse your brother? If you are an unfaithful spouse, does it make sense to judge your wife or husband harshly? If you are in debt, does it make sense to encourage faster repayment conditions? If you are a criminal, does it make sense to demand the harshest punishment for other criminals?

And if you are a sinner, does it make sense to demand that God judge and punish other sinners, even if they sin again you?

If there is such a thing as mercy, and there is, then it should be the flag we wave the highest. If we are all in the same sinking boat, then mercy is the bail we use to empty the water out of the bottom.