Is it possible that justice and mercy can be the same thing?  Justice is making things right, giving people what they deserve for wrongs they have committed.  But does that fully repay the victim?  Don’t they still experience the loss?

If the offender is given another chance, is that true mercy?  Won’t the victim feel slighted, with no closure? And are there certain crimes that don’t deserve another chance?  I wonder how the justice of man compares to the justice of God.  We can certainly agree on the fact that God searches the heart and would know if the transgressor is truly repentant.  God could tell if he or she would not repeat the crime.

God’s fire is often shown to be his judgement.  It can consume, or it can torture.  It can warm, or it can burn away impurities.  How does that relate to our salvation?  Or to our sanctification?  Is the death of Christ for our sins the final measure of his perfect justice?  Does God’s justice bring death and life?

It seems that God should hold us all accountable for not only what we’ve done in these bodies, but where our minds are in relation to him and those around us.  And where does love fit in?  Can God love us even after we’ve picked the wrong interpretation of his justice?

Let God be true, and every man a liar.  (Romans 3:4)

When things just don’t add up.  When total agreement seems unachievable.  When being of one mind is a fleeting fancy.  These are the times that try men’s souls.

But Thomas Paine wasn’t looking for reconciliation when he penned those words.  Five months after the Declaration of Independence, facing the onslaught of British forces at Baltimore, Paine refused to believe that God would abandon their cause and give them over to those who would enslave them.  Two days later, on Christmas Day, George Washington would take his troops back across the Delaware to certain victory.  But this was not reconciliation.

Reconciliation tops the news these days as Congress attempts to force vote the passage of healthcare reform in order to avoid gridlock.  However, this only results in half of the country being happy (?); political partisanship will still keep unrest stirred up.

The word reconciliation comes from Latin, meaning “to make good again.”  For something to be reconciled, it must have first to have gone wrong.  True reconciliation doesn’t just require agreement. Even acknowledged forgiveness is not enough.  Hurts can’t just be forgiven; they must be healed.

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Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?

Genesis 18:25

God didn’t seem to be offended when Abraham recommended what he thought to be the correct mode of action for dealing with Sodom and Gomorrah.  But seeing the big picture, we see Abraham’s ultimate motive for wanting to spare the twin cities, that is sparing the life of his nephew Lot.  Was it really possible for him to persuade God to alter his intentions for destruction?

What is true justice?  The dictionary has several meanings, but the one I think fits best is “the administering of deserved punishment or reward.”  And Christianity-at-large is right on board with that.  They see God as in charge of giving good or delivering whuppings.  But can we, like Abraham, challenge his justice?

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Most people would agree that we seem to be on a journey in this life.  The old gospel song, Life Is Like A Mountain Railroad, gives the image of our trip “from the cradle to the grave.”  Being conscious of the concept of time, we see the world around us changing, ourselves and our families aging, and have encountered numerous births and funerals over our lifetime.  We who are seniors look back and wonder where the time went, wishing, at times, for some do-overs.

In various religious circles a perfecting process is recognized.  Through our encounter with God we see where we have failed and where we need to improve.  Some often can see a clear progression in themselves and others.  But we also can see those who seem to be moving backwards; their bodies are aging, but their minds are deteriorating, as evidenced by their behavior.  What should be obvious, however, is that a great many exit this life as “unfinished business.”

I believe that we were all created by God, and that there is no one accurate, true religion.

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[The following is an excerpt from a novel by Scottish author George MacDonald, regarding the nature of one of his characters.]

In his inmost being he knew the mission of man is to help his neighbors.  But in as much as he was ready to help, he recoiled from meddling.  To meddle is to destroy the holy chance.  Meddlesomeness is the very opposite of helpfulness, for it consists of forcing yourself into another self, instead of opening yourself as a refuge to the other.  They are opposite extremes, and, like all extremes, touch.  

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