Justice and Mercy Untethered
No time to read? Listen instead!
Love is not a victory march; it’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah. -Leonard Cohen
For those feeling untethered by the lack of footing between justice and mercy, I see you. This week, I’m struggling to acknowledge the intensity of my anger while knowing compassion is key.
And yet:
-Where is the place between fiercely advocating for the hurting while still finding genuine generosity toward those causing the hurt?
-Where is the space between speaking a resounding “NO” to deceit while still being willing to understand the underlying humanity of the one doing the deceiving?
-Where is the ground between caring for the brokenhearted while still choosing to love those who did the shattering?
-Where do I find footing when hate tries to pose as ignorance, and people will needlessly suffer because of it?
-Where are the boundaries of compassion? Are there any?
-It gets uncomfortable when we run up against the outer edges of our own capacity to love. How quickly do we vilify the “other” to justify our inability to stretch?
Even as I write this, parts of me are screaming, “Perpetrators and liars deserve to be hated; mercy is complicity! JUSTICE! JUSTICE!”
At the same time, the parts of me that seek peace and compassion with the most profound fervor say, “Unwavering truth with humility in the face of hate is the way of love.”
Feeling compassion for another doesn’t mean letting them off the hook.
Raging to prove a point with cutting, quick-witted words is easy, and I can slice another quickly. And, damn it, I so desire to tell the painful truths and love well at the same moment.
Maybe telling the truth IS love, and it matters how we tell it.
I imagine you have raging parts that are screaming, “F@ck You” at the very idea of mercy. I get it. I do! The big existential question is, “Who do we want to be, and how do we find justice without becoming the perpetrator?”
Is compassion really compassion if it’s conditional? I don’t know.
Maybe right now, the most important compassion we can show is for the hurting and fearful parts within ourselves.