Sunday, January 24, 2021
Sunday Reflection: Untender Mercies
It was a tough week for the institution of clemency. President Trump went out of office with a flurry of pardons (Lil' Wayne, Steve Bannon, etc.) for people who are rich, connected, and hadn't even been convicted yet. Meanwhile, the most deserving petitioners, mired in the muck of the DOJ-controlled clemency review process, never even got considered. Most of those who received clemency from Trump were rich and white, while many of those who never got a shot are poor and black.
It made me angry.
And yet, to staunch my anger over this, I have to remember Matthew 20, where Jesus tells us a parable about vineyard workers:
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage,[a] he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; 4 and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. 5 When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 6 And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ 8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ 9 When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage.[b] 10 Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage.[c] 11 And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?[d]14 Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’[e] 16 So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”[f]
That does seem to cut against my resentments, doesn't it? It doesn't mean that I shouldn't seek mercy for those who Trump left behind-- just that I need to stop worrying about those who benefited unfairly.
What surprised me was the number of low level drug offenders that were released (not problematic) but that in each case Alice Johnson's name was attached to the explanation. Were these her prison pals or were they random drug offenders. So many more deserving of the same mercy.
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