Thoughts on Mercy

People ask for mercy because they've reached a point in their life where they need to keep going, but do not have the ability to go further.


A criminal begs for mercy because he knows he is about to be sentenced and has no ability to stop it.


A student begs for mercy because the due date has come and he does not have his assignment finished.


A sinner begs for mercy because he has seen his end and knows he is powerless to prevent it.


A victim begs for mercy because the power of life and death rests in the hands of his captor.


A patient begs for mercy because no man can add an extra hour to his life.


Mercy is one of those things that is simple enough when you sit and think about it, but it is a very difficult thing to live for. For example, mercy can only be begged for. You need to be in a place of humility and weakness to authentically ask for mercy; if you believe that you can handle whatever problem is currently being thrown at you, you cannot ask for mercy. Mercy means that you are asking for something that you have no way of getting by yourself. You are putting what you need entirely into the hands of another.


That is why you need to be in a place of weakness to ask for mercy. Several people ask for mercy knowing that, if they do, they will receive it. That is not begging for mercy, it's an exchange. The currency for getting something is asking for it. Their is no such exchange for mercy. You beg because you realize that their is a chance of you not getting what you asked for, a chance of you not getting what you need. In some ways, this takes strength. It takes strength to look at a situation and admit that you do not have control over it. It takes strength to be authentic with yourself. But all this does is get you to admit that you do not have the ability to get what you want?


How can a criminal secure his own pardon?


How can a student guarantee an extension?


How can a sinner secure his own forgiveness?


How can a victim get his own freedom?


How can a patient end his own death sentence?


A very sorry truth about Darwinism is that the strongest are those who dictate the rules of society. As much as I wish that victims would be given their freedom, simply wishing for it will not give them anything. As much as I wish that a patient would walk away healthy, simply wishing for it will not provide them a cure. Only those who have power in these situations have the ability to act.


I used to believe that those who had the power to give mercy should give those who suffer a reprieve. I used to think that mercy was lifting a person's burden off their shoulders. I used to think it was giving them a moment to pause.


Saving the criminal from jail.


Giving the student an extension.


Forgiving the sinner.


Freeing a victim.


Healing a patient.


But then I looked at these situations and I realized another very sorry truth. A reprieve is, after all, only a reprieve. People are put back in these situations. We are pulled from an evil only to go back to it, either willfully or forcefully.


A freed criminal can continue to commit crimes.


A student given an extension can turn in other assignments late.


A forgiven sinner can sin again.


A freed victim can be caught again.


A healed patient can still get sick.


I said earlier that it takes strength to admit where you are in life. I still believe it does, but I do not think that is the only requirement to truly understanding mercy. The most terrifying criminals are those who believe that crime is the best way to act. The worst patients are those who realize that their lifestyle is bad for them and refuse to change it. It takes one kind of strength to admit that you are in a bad situation, but it takes another kind of strength to believe that your bad situation should change. 


It's the difference between saying "This sucks, but what can you do about it?" and "This sucks, something should be done about it." We need the strength to face the reality of the situation, but also the desperate hope of wanting it to change.


I believe that true mercy is when one person who is strong gives another person the ability to be strong. I'm not trying to say that a reprieve in a lousy situation is not good or helpful. Sometimes, a reprieve is a good gift. But it is not mercy, because the problem remains and it often gets worse. In fact, it seems like giving a person the ability to become strong is a longer and more difficult process than just giving them a reprieve. But it is the only thing that can end the cycle of problem -> reprieve -> problem.


A criminal does not need to be freed. They need to stop committing crimes. They need a good mentor.


A student does not need an extension. They need to learn foresight and good study habits. They need a good teacher.


A sinner does not simply to not feel guilty. They need to become someone who cannot sin. They need a good judge.


A victim does not simply need freedom. They need to have the power never to be oppressed again. They need a good hero.


A patient does not need medication. They need to never get sick again. They need a good doctor.


Thinking of this made me feel bad for the person asking for mercy and the person who gives it. The giver of mercy forces people through the most difficult tasks and hopes that the person they are helping will keep moving through it. A person given mercy needs to keep moving through painful circumstances with only the word of their teacher that things will get better. It is a delicate balance, but I believe this is what mercy is. It's the only way that makes sense to me.

Submitting to, Standing against, and Sitting with God

My brother got me hooked on Game of Thrones, the television show not the books. In the latest season, this Woman in Red is a priestess for a god of light. She supports a very militant man who is campaigning for the Iron Throne, but her motivation for doing so is shrouded in mystery. Based off of her conniving actions and brutal advice, her motives must not be anything good for the whole kingdom. Ironically, the saying that she is known for is “The night is dark and full of terrors.” Evidently, so is the light. If we were to take this woman at face value, it seems like this god of light is just as terrifying as the night.

Lex Luthor, from the comic book world of Superman, has also captured my attention lately. In a conversation that he has with Death from Sandman (this was a fantastic moment for nerds everywhere), he says to her (Death is a girl) that science has shown that their can be no objective standard that people are held to. If it is true that a god created everything, atheism becomes an ethical choice, not a logical one. After all, even if a god created everything, man is able to disagree with how the god maintains his universe. An atheist, for Luthor, is a person who disagrees with what god wants for the universe; someone who does not believe in god.

For Lex Luthor, the best thing a man can do is to bring mankind even higher at the cost of anything else. This is why he hates Superman so much. Superman tries to help those who are in need, whereas Lex Luthor believes that people who are in need should learn to rise up and save themselves. Mankind is meant to rise up, but they have no incentive to rise up if Superman is always there to protect them. Why change the status quo if you have no reason to change it? And to have this protector be Superman is the biggest affront to Lex; Superman is no man, but an alien who is a god compared to men.

Lex Luthor: the man who would defy a god. The Woman in Red: a servant of a god who toys with man.

Recently, I was watching some peers of mine debate the existence of god. I was struck by the fact that everything they have said I have heard  before, which went to show me that this discussion was  going nowhere. Ultimately, with all of their talk about “How can there still be suffering in the world if God is all good?” and “How can there be free will if God knows what I am going to do?”, I became convinced that what they were saying was something simpler. If there is a god, he seems evil and I do not want any part of it.

I think people are convinced that god is evil; they believe in the god of the Woman in Red. So do we submit to this god simply because he is all powerful, or do we follow Luthor and embrace a mankind that is separate from the Super? But who is to say that humanity is something that should be embraced? We quickly blame god for not feeding the starving in Africa, but aren’t we the reason that they are starving? Isn’t it our own greed the one that starves our fellow man?

I work with children. You cannot tell me that, deep down, all people want is what best for themselves. Granted, maybe we are not selfish all the time. I’ve seen children be more generous than I have ever been, but take away their favorite toy and you will see a whole new side of them.

In a comic called Kingdom Come, the children of the superheroes of old are running rampant through the street. They have eliminated crime, yet they’ve grown bored and decided to fight each other. Their superhuman battles are colossal and never ending, but the regular humans are the ones who are trapped and killed as the debris falls and the shrapnel flies. Superman and other superheroes of old step out of retirement and decide to instruct their misguided children. Batman and other non-superheroes oppose what Superman is doing. Even with the old gods trying to train the new, you still end up with a humanity that is forcibly subservient to the will of the gods.

I don’t want to spoil how they get to this point, but the conclusion that is reached by the end of the book is that for humanity and super humanity to co-exist, they need to work together and not apart. Mankind needs to try and do what is best for them and not look to the gods to solve their problems, and the super humans need to let humanity make their own decisions.

The gods had condescended themselves and sat with humanity.

I do not think I would follow the god of the Woman in Red, but I do not think Lex Luthor’s view of mankind is a good one. People need teachers, not dictators or anarchy. But here is where my words fail me, because I do not know how to easily describe the teacher humanity needs.