Forgiveness and Fight

This post is predominantly a response to a tweet I received last night. I had tweeted a rhyme about forgiveness; the response was "Forgiveness in my heart towards my enemies, yes; with Love & a Pure Heart. Forgiveness in court for their crimes, no. #Justice" This initially left me with a lack for words; I realized a tweet was not going to accurately convey what I wish to say. So I will reply here.

One of my favorite sayings is "Humanity asks God why He allows all these bad things to happen; God may be asking Humanity the same question." We are no longer children; we have a responsibility: to help one another. Where there is darkness, we need to bring light; this applies to correcting social injustices, not just "bringing them the Word."

Then there is the command to Love one another and Forgive each other. Where does that apply? All cases, all times, all situations. Does that mean we let "criminals get off free" and continue the acts we are trying to stop? Not exactly...

Forgiveness works at a different level than the guilty/innocent determinations of the court systems. As any good lawyer can tell you, things can be manipulated and presented to the best possible advantage to your case - whether that is beneficial to all or just one. Court and the laws apply determinations based on he actions and consequences that have taken place.

Forgiveness involves the people. Forgiveness' primary function is opening doors, not drawing lines. We are asked to look into the heart of the person, not just the mind. We are asked to continue to love them, not let our anger turn into hate. When we look upon another with anger or hate, we see actions, not the person. We may not even see actions correctly. Lawyers aren't the only ones to manipulate; our emotions do this too. When we look through the eyes of hatred, we see an enemy: someone to hurt, someone to harm, someone to stop and PUNISH. With hatred in our hearts, our perception WILL be skewed; this is basic psychology as well as spiritually founded.

Instead we are called to love them, to listen to them and find the root cause of the situation, then follow through and find positive resolutions. This may include following through with the punishment, the consequences for their actions. But, very sadly, too many stop there. They punish the person and never follow through with fixing the social causes that lead to the action.

For example, in my town, there was a young man that was arrested, convicted and went to jail for larceny - three times in a row, one right after the other. Many who hear this fact would right away turn a cold heart toward that criminal. He obviously did not learn the lesson! He should be thrown in jail permanently! Right?

Now I will divulge some more information in this case. He robbed a supermarket - the same supermarket, the only supermarket in walking distance to his residence. He had no car. He did not rob the cashier; he was convicted of shoplifting. What did he take? The first time was a canister of baby formula. The second time was formula and some small jars of baby food. The third time was a box of generic cereal commonly given to toddlers.

Do you see the pattern?

This young man did not have a job to pay for the items. With a criminal record from the first conviction, he was likely turned down a number of times. But ... he was trying to feed his CHILD! Why did he have to resort to theft? There are social services in place for that right? Well... The first time someone applies for food stamps or assistance, they are turned down flatly - that's the policy. One actually has to know the "game" to use the right terms, fill out the right forms and follow up with the right people. If you don't know the game, you loose. And they don't publish the rules.

Then there are several other factors. There are no social service locations in this town. Public transportation between towns is rare to non-existent. Without a car, one cannot access them. Plus as a father (instead of a mother) it is harder for him to access the services needed to care for a child. It's not a policy; but, sadly, it is a practice.

I don't know what happened to this young man or the child. The local paper stopped reporting after the third conviction. Three strikes and you're out, I suppose... Apparently not enough people cared, for I have seen little changes in the local social structures except to close more locations in the state due to "budget cuts."

Is this the case of all criminal activity around the globe? Certainly not. But if we are truly to Love one another and Forgive, we are also responsible to find the root cause of the activity. Why does it exist? What supports it?

If we did not glamorize the criminal side in movies/TV or let our starlets, corporate heads or politicians get away with actions the minimum-wage workers would not, perhaps the lure would not be so strong. Plus I bet if one were to follow every possible line of connections leading up to criminal activity, they would find not only hearts feeding on greed and hatred, they would also find people who find themselves in desperate situations, ones where they see no other option BUT to turn to the criminal side of society.

Follow these lines; help the desperate. Pray for the Lost. Fix the problems. Too often we punish those we find guilty and sweep the rest under the carpet, forgotten... And like mold in a damp corner, it will only continue to grow into yet more problems involving more people.

We need to not only light the dark corners of our world; we need to open doors so others find another path, starving the serpent that feeds on them.

It is not easy.
But it is worth it.

-ESA

Over the Wall (True Story)

With recent news from the Walk On Wallstreet/99% Movement, there is an old story that came to mind. It is a true story dating back to either the 1940's or 1950's in New York City's Central Park. My grandfather was a "cop" who literally walked the beat in those days. I do not know if he was part of the following event, or heard about it in his precinct. But the event is reported as true... and not that uncommon an occurrence (at least in those days).

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Late one night, two cops were walking the beat along the perimeter of their precinct in Central Park. One of the boundaries between two precincts was this wall that reached just over their heads. Huddled at the foot of this wall, the two cops found a homeless man, wrapped in layers of all the clothes he had with his meager possessions piled around him. They could tell from the snow falling on him, that the man was dead, and the body cooling. His passing must not have happened that long ago as rigor mortis had not yet set in.

The two cops held a quick consultation about what to do. The protocol was to bring the body back to the police house and process it. However, tonight was Christmas Eve and their shift was just ending. If they brought in the body now, they would be there for HOURS filling out all the paperwork, waiting to see if anyone would I.D. the body, and so on. Kids would be waking up early to unwrap presents and wives were waiting at home. There was no time for this.

So one took the shoulders and the other took the feet and, together, they tossed the homeless man's body over the wall into the other precinct.

Well, it just so happened that on the other side of the wall, two other cops were also walking the beat. There was a cry of protest. A scuffling. And a moment later, the homeless man's body was seen sailing over the wall back into their precinct. The others didn't want to extend their shift either.

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Some may find this funny. I know my dad did. He would laugh as he told it, often after drinking a bit too much. When we were kids, he taught my siblings and I to laugh at this too.

Now I find it deplorable!

This was a man - a fellow human being - who died cold and alone on Christmas Eve! They callously threw this man's body back and forth over the wall like an overstuffed ping-pong ball.

I do not know what my readers think when they observe the recent protests. It also doesn't matter if you side with them or not. I hope you, like I, take this as an opportunity to take a good hard look at how we treat others around us, particularly the BOTTOM 1%.

What would you have done on that Christmas Eve?

Do unto others as you would have done unto you.

Do not do unto others as you would not have done unto you.

Whatsoever you do to the least of these, that you do unto me.

- ESA

Worth

Every person in this world has worth. Too often when we look at the people in our lives -- or even strangers half a world away -- and we analyze them; who they are or what they have. Then we categorize people into two groups.

In one group we place people we believe have value. We review their skills, abilities, knowledge and contacts and wonder what does that person have that can help me? In this world, society constantly encourages us to improve ourselves and our positions. So as we look out on our world, we are constantly seek people who will help us climb to that next step.

In the second group, we see people we can help - the poor, the homeless, the downtrodden, the disadvantaged, the ill, the disabled, children, elderly. We volunteer our time and efforts or donate money. Let's admit, it makes us feel good. Then these people are forgotten and we work on culling value from the first group.

Sadly, the people in the second group also have much to offer this world, if only we would take the time to discover that. They have talents and skills. They have experiences from which we can learn when we take the time to do so.

Everyone wants to feel useful. Everyone needs to feel needed. Everyone has something to contribute. We should not dismiss someone as having no value because they don't have the money, education or background we believe is valuable.

At one time in my life, I lost the roof over my head and a friend who couldn't afford to pay her electric and phone bills took me in and gave me a place to sleep.

A family I knew that had so very little still insisted on sharing their lunch with me. I can't tell you how much I appreciated that half of a tuna-fish sandwich.

A 9-year-old showed me how to navigate on YouTube; then I taught my 68-year-young mother.

A 16-year-old told me that I was the first adult who honestly wanted to hear his opinion on something.

I listen and learn from everyone I can.

In fact, the more a person's experience differs from ours, the more that person has to share with us. For you see, each of us can only live in this world for such a small period of time. We cannot experience all there is to experience. The world is too vast and there are innumerable paths to life here.

But we can learn much more by reaching out to ALL fellow human beings and learning what they have to share with us. What they share can be far more valuable that you'll ever imagine.

Reach out.
Share.

-ESA