misericordia

So I watched To End All Wars again last night. If you haven't seen it it's about a WWII POW camp in Thailand. But really it's about forgiveness. It is a remarkable movie. The men in the camp are put through torturous years, beaten and enslaved and when they have their turn for revenge the narrator asks this simple question. With every reason and justification you could ask for standing above his enemy with power to end him he asks "at what price mercy?". So I ask myself that question in regards to people who I think less of, people who are ignorant and selfish and don't know it and frankly don't care. At what cost do I finally say ok, it's ok? When do I stop trying to force people into what I want them to be? When will I attempt to offer the very thing I have been given, the thing that has given me freedom? Is it only after I deem them worthy. In the movie some wounded Japanese soldiers show up at the camp but are turned away by the guards. The allied prisoners care for them and treat their wounds. One of the officers orders a man to stop aiding and abetting the enemy, the soldier responds by saying "sir, these are injured, dying human beings. They are no threat to us." he sees their humanity.

I've been reading a friends blog about the myth of redemptive violence. He basically shows how in our culture we have this wild idea that violence will redeem something. That somehow fighting back will be satisfying. I ask, at what cost mercy. When do we stop and let other people be the flawed creations they are without feeling like we have a right to punish them for it.

Well, this has been longer than intended. I just can't stop wondering what openly given mercy would do to my life and to our world.......

16 days until I'm in Guatemala.

grace.peace.mercy.adam